Kingdom Hearts: The Real World Pentrilogy
by Kayhem Maus
Summary: Action, gore, Heartless - Original characters of Earth find the door to another world with explosive concequences. Unfinished w-i-p. If you've read this anywhere else here, you've found my co-writer - Please smack him for me - or you know me already.
1. Part 1:: One Door Closes: Introduction

_**This is the story… **_

_…of a man who cares not for his past, nor for the future, but lives in the here and now. However, because of this, he is unaware of the truth._

His past - is a lie.  
His future - has already been decided for him.

Bound by fate, he now heads into his destiny; blind and alone, unprepared for the Trials he is going to be put through…

…This is his story.


	2. Part 1:: Chapter 1: Prologue

_Kingdom Hearts…_

_I know it's only a computer game, I know, I only finished it three days ago…_

_But, lately, I've been having reoccurring, surreal dreams, about Sora, his friends, and especially the Heartless… I finished Kingdom Hearts in the hope of deciphering my dreams, but what happens in my dream doesn't happen in the entire game, not even Final Mix, and Sora is still in his K.H. 1 gear…  
What can it __**mean**?_

I was woken from my daydream by the loud, recorded sound of St. Anger coming from my phone. I shot up and fumbled at it as I tried to answer it. "Hello?" I yawned, finally answering it.  
"Dude, you're late! You were supposed to meet me ages ago!" Samantha's voice shouted from the other end of the line.  
"Hello to you too, Sam." I laughed. I looked for a clock, but it was nowhere to be found. "Is it that time already?" I grumbled.  
"You're damn straight it is! Now get you're lazy ass out of bed and meet me in Elliot's now!" she replied, cutting me off. I turned my phone off.  
"Yes, ma'am." I laughed.

_Samantha's a long time friend of mine, a cute Goth chick with flowing brownish-black hair, dual-coloured eyes, blue and brown circles in both eyes, is about 5"8, has a wicked sense of humour and a bit of a temper, but she's a good friend… I was meant to meet her at half past ten, but I was too busy trying to sort out my own mess, so I'm in serious danger of having my testicles rearranged by her…_

I walked into Elliot's the coffee shop in town, and saw Sam talking to a small American girl I kinda half-recognised, but couldn't think from where. Other than them, the place was empty. "Hey, there you are!" Sam said, beckoning me over. I walked over to them and sat down. The other girl waved at me. She was about 5"4, with black and Auburn short hair, a pale complexion, wearing a pink t-shirt and red trousers. "I don't know if you two have met… Pippa, this is Alexis Edmenton, Alexis, meet Pippa Askew." Sam said, introducing us.  
"Hello, Pippa. Have we met before?" I asked her as I shook her hand. She smiled broadly.  
"Oh, so you do remember me, then?" she laughed.  
"Huh? You do know each other?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, ish. We met a couple of years ago. We were sat next to each other at OzzFest, I nearly knocked him out, clipped him in the temple with my elbow as I tried to catch Dave Ghrol's thrown T-shirt." she said, her eyes glazed over with nostalgia. It finally clicked in my head and I remembered her.

"Oh, _now_ I remember you! You were the girl wearing the purple bandanna, anime top and black trousers with pink around the zips, right?" I laughed. She thought for a second.  
"Yeah, I was… That's some memory you've got!"  
"I know… You wouldn't stop apologising to me. Man, it was so funny." I laughed.  
"Funny? I nearly killed you! You were temporarily blinded for twenty minutes, and you think it was funny!" she replied, astonished.  
"At least I see the funny side. I could be bitter about it, but where would that get me?" I replied. She just shook her head and smiled.

"Anyway, to business. How did the police briefing go, Alex?" Sam asked. I looked at her, then at Pippa, then back to her.  
"Is this an appropriate time to talk about this?" I asked, concerned.  
"Don't worry, Alexis, that's why I'm here. I've come to help you out." Pippa replied.  
"What? Why?" I said, confused.  
"My own personal reasons. But you will find me pretty useful. I have something to contribute to the group," she said, trying to win me over.  
"Like what?" I asked.  
"The keys to the college." she smiled. I raised my eyebrows and nodded at her, impressed. Sam smiled at me.

"Alright… The police confirmed that no force was authorised to seal off the Q.E. In fact, no one knows who did it, not even the top-secret, all knowing organisations can rightly say they know how it happened. There's no way anyone could ever enter the grounds, even those Men in Black. My contacts couldn't even believe they were talking to me about it, because all of the horror stories about what happened, they think I'm crazy." I said, writing down a memo on a piece of paper and putting it in my pocket.

"He may be right, but that makes 3 of us. I've figured out how to get in, all I need are my ingredients and my spell book, and we can go in as soon as I get the word from the police." Sam said.

"Hold on a sec, _spell book_? Just how was the college sealed?" Pippa asked.

"Okay, let's go through what we know…" I said.

_Eight and a half years ago, a child named Gabriel Fisher, an orphan, was visiting the Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, an old-school Higher Education facility. He was with a representative of the Orphanage he was being kept, who was applying for a course there. He was seen walking into the long-sealed boiler room to the main building, above the Hope Hall, and the power went out seconds later. It was the middle of the night, so it was pitch black. It was then that a massacre occurred… _

_There were 200 people in the college at the time. 17 survived. The rest were ripped to shreds, torn apart, like something out of an Elm Street movie. There was so much blood; legend has it that the blood caused a lake that ran through the corridors… _

_3 of the 17 survivors saw Gabriel going into the boiler room. 3 years ago, the first was murdered. The second was convicted for the other's murder and sentenced to Death. The other went insane. Another 7 claimed to witness the killings. They were laughed at - big monsters with red glowing eyes and big claws weren't a possibility in the eyes of the law. 2 went dumb, never spoke again, still haven't. 4 went insane a lot sooner than the one who had seen Gabriel. The other girl killed herself a week after the incident. _

_The police made a major investigation, but none of it made sense, so they closed the case. The next day, the college was sealed off with a magic spell, and no one has been able to enter the ground since, as the force that was created by the spell repels them. Like I said before, nobody knows who is responsible for that. _

_And as for little Gabriel Fisher... _

_He was __**never**__found…_


	3. Part 1:: Chapter 2: Lake of Blood

"_So, we meet at the college at midnight?"  
"Yup, I'll bring the keys."  
"I'll bring the spell book so we can destroy the seal."  
"I'll bring some equipment along. You never know what we'll need."  
"You do that, Alex. You're the __**man**__."   
"Sheesh, thanks, Pippa." _

I put on my work clothes - a black t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off, black jeans, black boots, a pair of fingerless leather gloves, and my leather jacket - and got a backpack from my room. I put a baseball bat, a golf club, and my baby, my own weapon, in case someone or something was still inside, into the bag. I also grabbed a torch, as it was probably going to be very dark, and dumped it into the bag. I was on my way out of the door when my phone played St. Anger very loudly again. It scared the hell out of me. I answered it, but Sam interrupted before I could speak.

"Yo, we got the police permission we needed before we could act. We can get on with the investigation," she said.  
"Cool. Did they find out who it was that hired us?" I asked.  
"Nah, the letter the person sent us was too badly damaged in transit. The half-broken seal and smudged signature made it impossible without further evidence." she replied.  
"Damn." I said, opening the storage compartment of my Harley. I put the bag in it, closed it and jumped on.  
"Get here on time, Alex." Sam said.  
"I will." I replied, turning off the phone. I started it up and headed to the college.

When I arrived, Sam had already started to recite the spell that would destroy the seal.  
"Alex." Pippa said, as she stood next to the wall that Sam was sat on.  
"Pippa. How much more of the spell has she got left to say?" I asked.  
"2 more minutes, tops." she replied. Sam's inaudible mumbling picked up speed as screeching tyres broke the silence. Suddenly, a black Sedan tore around the corner, like a bat out of hell, and screeched to a halt outside of the college. A woman jumped out and ran towards us. She pulled a gun out of her waistband and pointed it at us.  
"_Freeze_!!!" she shouted, in a distinctively Southern State, American accent; possibly in the region of Alabama.

"Whoa! That's F.B.I. behaviour if ever I saw it…" Pippa said, throwing her hands up.  
"A little out of your jurisdiction, officer…" I smiled, putting my hands behind my head.  
"I'm ex-F.B.I., but thanks for noticing." she replied, coolly.  
"So, what are you doing here, anyway?" Pippa asked, confused at what was happening.  
"I'm a member of a taskforce designed to protect the contents of the college, and I'm here to stop you opening that seal." she told us.  
"Sorry to tell you this honey, but your task force has just failed..." Sam said, her eyes turning white. 

A blast of energy was flung out of her body, and it struck an invisible wall around the college without making a sound. The wall turned into a wire frame-like blue blur and it crumbled away. It distracted the woman long enough for me to grab her around her neck and take the gun from her.  
"You _better_ tell me what you know about what is happening, or I'll send you to the hospital." I said to her.  
"You know I could hurt you and get the gun back, but since I'm too late to stop you breaking the seal, I'll co-operate," she said. I let go, and she rearranged herself.

"My name is Alice Ramirez, ex-F.B.I., like I said earlier. I was recruited by an organisation called the Circle when I left the Alabama branch. They are dedicated to the prevention of activating, and the defending of, several paranormal hot zones in the world, including this one. Now, you guys have gone and fucked it all up, and now, _we're all in the shit_!" she shouted, annoyed at herself. She snatched her gun off me and stuffed it back in her trousers.

She looked at us all. Looking back, I got a much better look at her then at the beginning of the encounter. She was wearing a business suit-like uniform and police issue boots. She was around my height, 6"8, had hip-length blonde hair and really cute Asian-like features.  
"Who the heck _are_ you guys, anyway?" she asked, her temper dying down.  
""We're Freelance Adventurers, we only work for the danger and intrigue, _but_ we still want to get paid. Sales pitch aside, I'm Samantha, this is Pippa, and you've already gotten up-close and personal with Alexis." Sam said, getting up and stretching, as her eyes returned to normal.  
"Freelance? Who hired you?" Alice asked.  
"We're still trying to find that out." I replied.  
"What were you asked to do?"  
"We want to find out what happened to Gabriel Fisher." Pippa told her. Alice seemed surprised.  
"You want to find the _kid_?" she asked.  
"Or at least what happened to him that night, yes. Look, we have morals; that place is as near as hallowed ground as it can come. We would have _never_ accepted this assignment if it was about looting." Sam said. Alice whistled in surprise and wandered onto the road.

"You don't know what you're letting yourself in for." she said.  
"Oh, and you do?" Pippa said. Alice nodded.  
"Alexis, are you the leader here?" Alice asked.  
"Hey, there isn't a leader! Sam and me work as a cohesive unit. There's no 'I' in team. We're partners, 50/50. Why ask such a stupid question!" I snapped at her, annoyed at the question.  
"I have to come with you. I know what you're up against in there, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you. Come on," she replied, beginning to walk to the college, with our gazes following her.  
"Let's go." Sam said, shaking her head. I began to walk with her, but my head suddenly began to pound and thump with pain, and I fell to my knees.

IT'S TIME, ALEXIS. YOUR FUTURE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. A familiar voice in my head told me.  
"Future? I don't care about that crap, I…" I started, leaning on the wall Sam was sat on earlier.  
WHAT? LIVE FOR THE MOMENT? The voice laughed in a distinct, recognisable manner. THAT'S ALL ABOUT TO CHANGE. He finished.  
"Mickey...?" I said, confused.  
"Hey! Alexis! Let's go!" Sam shouted after me. The pain stopped and it all went quiet.  
"Huh? What the hell just…" I said to myself. I pulled myself to my feet and got the bag from the bike. "Am I going _insane_?" I asked myself.

I caught up with them just as Pippa unlocked the door.  
"Alright, carefully open it; we don't know what's on the other side." Sam said, as we stood at the sides of the door. Pippa nodded and opened the door. A gushing geyser of blood was flung from within the college.  
"Whoa!" Pippa shouted.  
"My god, that's _sick_!" Alice said, gagging. It died down to a trickle, and we looked inside. The place was covered in blood, but there were no bodies, decomposing or otherwise, and there wasn't a sign of what caused the fountain of claret.  
"It's almost as if this place was haunted…" I commented.  
"Oh it's worse than that. _Much worse_." Alice said.

We walked in together.  
"The easiest way to the Boiler Room is upstairs, through two doors, than across the balcony above Hope Hall." Sam said, removing the golf club from my bag. I handed Pippa the baseball bat.  
"Are the weapons really necessary?" she asked.  
"We'll see." I replied, leading the way up the stairs.  
"I'll cover the back." Alice said, pulling out her gun. We got through the first door, when we had to stop…

"The Lake of blood… It's still here…" Sam said.  
"My god! That's _disgusting_!" Pippa said. The floor was contorted to direct the river's path.   
"Now what the hell do we do?" Sam asked. I heard a faint banging above the rushing waterfall-like noise of the blood turning and flowing down the stairwell.  
"Can anyone…" I started.   
"We're not turning back, we've done too much we can't undo." Alice said. I looked around the room and saw a set of broken tables at the other side of the river. I had an idea.  
"I think Persephone can do this." I said, putting my hand in my bag. Pippa and Alice looked at me, confused.  
"Do you think it'll help?" Sam asked.  
"Hell yeah." I replied, removing my weapon from the bag. Pippa and Alice laughed.

"That's Persephone?" Alice laughed.  
"Kinda stupid, don't'cha think? It's just a black tube of metal." Pippa laughed.  
"You'll be laughing out of your asses when you see what it can do." Sam said. I pressed the button on the middle of the face of the tube, and both sides extended, transforming it into a staff. Their jaws dropped.  
"The Automated Tri-Weapon, codenamed Persephone, my own creation. Bit of a tech geek, ya see." I told them. I dunked the staff into the lake, and it touched the bottom with at least 3 feet of it still over the surface. "It has three different weapon types, hence Tri-Weapon. The first, it extends the tube to become a Battle Staff." I said, getting a run-up.

Pole-vaulting over the blood lake, I landed on the tables with a thud.  
"That's an ouch." I groaned as I got up and brushed myself off. Sam laughed at me, so I smiled at her sarcastically. I picked up Persephone and pressed the middle button again. It retracted itself and shortened back to the ordinary tube. "The second weapon is a Scythe, as so." I said, pressing the right-hand side button on the face. Only the right side extended, and a long, crescent-shaped blade flew out of the end and locked into place.  
"Whoa! Death, eat your heart out!" Pippa said, impressed.  
"The blade is said to have been forged in Ancient Greece, hence Persephone, with the mystical metal Damascus." I said, swinging it over my head.

Full force, I brought the scythe crashing through the stone overhang above the river. I pushed it to see if it would swing back and forth, and it did. I pulled the left side, now the underside, of Persephone apart to act as footholds.  
"Okay, guys. Jump on." I told them. Sam nodded, so I let go. She jumped and grabbed onto it. I caught them both as they swung back, so she stepped off.  
"Thank you.," she mouthed, smiling.  
"That's o.k. Who's next?" I asked. Both Alice and Pippa shook their heads.  
"You've gotta be kidding!" Pippa said.  
"No way!" Alice agreed. I shook my head in despair.  
"Come on, you two, a boy's fate and an 8 year old mystery is about to be solved, aren't you even _slightly_ interested?" I asked. They looked at each other. Pippa shrugged.   
"_Banzai_!!!" she shouted, running at the river.

She caught it and quickly threw herself off. I caught her in the 'crossing the threshold' position - with her head and legs.  
"That was fun!!!" she squealed happily. Alice carefully jumped onto Persephone, but didn't jump off. It swung back as I put Pippa down. As they swung forward again, the scythe blade slipped out of the roof and they both headed down toward the lake.  
"Ah fu…" Alice began. In one swift movement, I caught Alice around the waist and hugged her tightly with one hand, and caught Persephone and transformed it back into the tube with the other hand.  
"Good reflexes, dude… Thanks." Alice said, seemingly enjoying the closeness. We were together for about a minute. Sam sighed.  
"_Knock it off, girl_! We've only known you for 10 minutes." she said. I laughed, and Alice got embarrassed, so I let go.  
"Alex, what's next?" Pippa asked.

I walked to the table I landed on earlier, picked it up and walked to the river's turning point. I placed it over the river, and it fitted snugly. I stood on it, and it took my weight, so I jumped across.  
"There we are. Let's go." I said, heading to the next door. I heard the banging again, and it had gotten louder. "What _is_ that?" I said to myself. The girls crossed over the river and they could hear it too.  
"Is that coming from the boiler room?" Sam asked.  
"Sounds like it…" I said, trying to open the door. It was blocked from the other side. "Hmm… Guess I'll have to use the last weapon…" I said, pressing the left-side button on the tube.

The left side of Persephone split into two and opened up. Seven heart-shaped fragments of metal were propelled from Persephone, before a magnetic field assembled the fragments into a sword and locked them into place. The two opened sides rotated and twisted downward, creating a hilt out of the tube.  
"_Wow_, what is that?" Pippa asked.  
"It's a prototype weapon I created, based on the legendary Snake Sword. Using complicated electromagnetism, the special metallic fragments can be manipulated to become a sword or separate them so it becomes a whip." I replied, checking the door.  
"Oh, like Ivy in Soul Calibur?" Pippa asked. I sliced the door in two across the hinges, causing it to swing open.  
"Yeah." I replied, pulling the torch from my bag. Alice brought her own, and she switched hers on as well. We walked to the end of the balcony of Hope Hall. I could see the four stained glass windows at the end of the hall reflected in a 4-foot deep pool of blood covering the hall.  
The banging sound form the boiler room suddenly stopped.  
"Hmm… Wonder what happened?" Sam mused.  
"Let's find out." Pippa said, brandishing the keys. She put the boiler room key in the door when Alice and myself heard a splash from underneath us. We both shone our torches down at the pool. The ripples were visible, but whatever caused them had gone back into hiding. Suddenly, the thumping headache returned, and it knocked me back.

THERE IS DARKNESS IN EVERYONE'S HEART, SO THEY SAY. BUT THERE IS ALSO LIGHT, TOO. SEEK YOUR LIGHT. OUR FUTURES BOTH DEPEND ON IT…  
Another voice so familiar, but then not… 

I felt the sensation I always felt when something bad was about to happen, a tingling at the back of my neck. Sam always jokingly referred to it as my Spider Sense, but never doubted it's accuracy, so she was most likely not surprised as I yelled at everyone.

"Move!" I shouted, stepping back and tightening my grip on Persephone. A large, hulking beast with red eyes and bright orange claws jumped onto the end of the balcony. They matched the description of the killers that the witnesses said they saw. However, although it had hideously mutated from its tiny original form, it was unmistakably a monster I knew well…

"A Heartless?!?" I exclaimed, confused.  
"It used to be. These things got their hearts back, but the evil in them was still too strong. They forgot who they used to be, and then mutated into these things. The Circle calls them Savage Hearts." Alice explained. I looked at her, perplexed. "Now do you see why I never told you?" she finished, cocking the hammer of her pistol.


	4. Part 1:: Chapter 3: The Room

"But, _Heartless don't exist_! It's _all a game_!" I practically screamed in my flustered state, though not moving my body, focused on the monster.  
"Try telling him that…" Sam said, ready to swing her club, hopping on the spot.  
"Kingdom Hearts is real! This is so cool!" Pippa said, twirling the bat in her hand.  
"It's all real. These things are the monsters that killed all those people." Alice said. The Savage Heart took a step closer to me.  
"But, this _can't be_! This must be another of my dreams... It _can't be real_! …Oh god, could **this **have been what my dreams meant?" I said, mostly to myself. The Savage Heart took another step forward. I looked it eye-to-eye (just, it was slightly taller than me, about 6"10 at a slouch). A smile seemed to appear on its face. I prodded it with my sword and it stepped back. The smile turned to an angry stare, a growl building up in its throat.

Alice fired a round into its chest causing it to recoil. In anger, it hopped towards her and was going to swipe at her, so I held the button on the back of Persephone, de-coupling the blade and invoking its whip-like state. I managed to wrap it around its arm and pulled it backward, somehow stopping him. It looked at the blade, then at me, smiling.

"Shit." I muttered to myself, turning my leg inward a little to plant it.

Suddenly, it swung its arm across itself, sending me flying towards it. With as much agility as I could muster, I twisted in mid-air so I landed on the shoulder of the beast. Releasing the de-coupler button on Persephone, causing the blade to reform, I used it's head as a springboard and leapt away from it. Unfortunately, I landed on one knee, slowing me down as I nursed it with curses under my breath. Seeing the weakness, the Savage Heart ran towards me.

Pippa and Sam struck it in the face with their weapons, but the bat broke and the golf club bent in half with very little damage to the monster, though it had stopped in their tracks. They looked at their now useless weaponry, then at each other. Sam nodded as they threw their weapons aside and Pippa jumped out of the way. Sam held her hand out with her palm facing the Savage Heart. She spoke some seemingly random words in a foreign tongue, causing a ball of flame to fire from her hand, hitting the monster in the gut and sending it to the floor with a thudding skid, narrowly missing Alice. It tried to get back up, so I jumped on him, ran to its head and stabbed him in the side of the neck. It twitched, and then stopped. I pulled the weapon out of the thick skin and returned Persephone to its normal state. The Savage Heart slowly disappeared, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, it's really happening… So, what happened? Why didn't we get attacked by the Heartless like all those other planets?" I asked Alice, in shock, flopping to the ground and sitting down.  
"I'll tell you all I know." Alice replied.

_14 years ago, the leaders of The Circle, The Four, received a message. It was stamped with the logo of Mickey Mouse. Inside, it told them of an immense evil preparing to invade and destroy Earth…  
Of course, half of that you'd have already guessed. But Earth, Mickey informed them, had a get-out-of-the-shit-free card, apart from the keyhole. There was something else…_

A young orphan, quite like Gabriel, had the power. No one knew who he was, where he originally came from, just where he could be found. He had the power to prevent the door being opened at the other side. It was written in his D.N.A., it was in his blood. He was taken and his blood was used to seal the door. They blocked up the entrance to the door's location and erased the Orphan's memory of the event. Although the whole World Linking thing bypassed us, thanks to The Four, Mickey had asked them to make Earth aware of the fate that nearly befell them. 

The four deemed it would be a whole lot easier if it was done quietly and covertly, so they paid a visit to Square-Soft Headquarters, and, a few planted ideas later, Kingdom Hearts was born…

Unfortunately, a year and a half later, 8 years ago, the door was opened on _**this**__ side… _

"Gabriel…" I said, thinking out loud. Alice nodded.  
"The door is in the boiler room, isn't it?" Pippa asked.  
"Yes, and he went through it, setting off this whole chain of events." Alice said. Suddenly, the banging on the boiler room door started again, quicker and harder than before. The door started to crumble and buckle.   
"Shit, _they're coming through_!!!" Sam shouted.


	5. Part 1:: Chapter 4: Savage Heart Assault

I leapt to my feet and activated the scythe. My heart and thoughts were racing, so I took a deep breath.  
"Calm down, Alex, you'll trigger off one of your panic attacks." Sam said, panicking herself. I laughed at the irony just as the door came down.  
"Stay back, Pippa, we'll take care of this." Alice said.

The first Savage Heart ran through the door. Sam fired a stream of Ice into its head, knocking it onto its back. Alice jumped onto its head and shot it in the face several times. The agent clambered off and it disintegrated as the second came through the door. I ran up to it, trailing Persephone behind me. Jumping, I drove the blade through the Savage Heart, slicing it in two. Just like the others, it simply vanished from sight.

"These guys aren't so tough…" I said, landing.  
"Remember, these are just Shadows, the Heartless get bigger and tougher, so do these guys." Alice said, her words sending a shiver up my spine as the next Savage Heart came through.

It ran towards us, so Sam fired another magic spell. It simply flung it's big hand into it's path, deflecting the blast and sending it up into the ceiling, blowing up and causing it to fall into the pool with an almighty splash, sending blood everywhere.

"_DAMN_!" Sam shouted, stepping back, trying to prepare another spell hurriedly.  
"I'll take care of it." I said, standing up to it. I tried to slice the monster, but it grabbed Persephone and pulled it from my grasp. "Uh oh…" I muttered, shifting my body weight to my ankles. It threw it at me, but I dodged sideways, avoiding the blade, and grabbing the handle. Alice stepped forward, firing at it as I deactivated scythe mode, shrinking it down to the simple metal pipe. The bullets caused the beast to stumble, but it stayed on its feet. Alice gulped.  
"Oh hell." she said, aiming higher up. She emptied the clip into the body of the Savage Heart. Again, it only stumbled back.  
"Holy shit, it's like The Terminator all over again…" I grunted, ready to attack again. Suddenly, Pippa ran across and dived shoulder first into the side of it, causing it to stumble sideward and fall over the balcony into the pool below.  
"Whoa!" I said, surprised.  
"Hehe, stronger then I look, aren't I? Comes from playing rugby with the boys." she grinned.  
"You..._ little firecracker_!" Sam laughed, running up and giving her a playful hug. A loud thud at the Boiler room door attracted our attention.

A larger, bulkier Savage Heart busted through the doorframe. This one was at least 8" at a slouch.  
"Oh man, its one of those fat Heartless guys turned into a Savage Heart…" I said. Sam sighed.  
"You had to curse it, didn't you?" Sam told Alice. She grimaced in reply. I activated the Battle Staff on Persephone.  
"Sam, come on." I said.  
"What?" she asked.  
"We're the only ones with weapons now; we'll have to hold the front line." I replied. She squealed loudly.  
"Alrighty then, _let's do it_!" she shouted, psyching herself up.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**Somewhere else... **

Someone was watching over us as we fought the Savage Hearts, using some kind of magical spell as a viewer. I could feel myself being watched, but I thought it was my imagination.

"What the hell is she doing?" the first of the four people watching us said. She had a pair of tattered wings on her back that looked like they had been larger, but were ripped and torn.  
"She looks like she's letting them do the work… That wasn't how we taught her to fight those things. She should be taking charge," another said. He was deathly pale.  
"It looks like she's smitten with our mutual friend." the third said, laughing. She had white hair.  
"Yes, Alexis…" the pale watcher said.  
"Look at the way he handles his weaponry… Surely that is the mark of a true warrior?" the winged watcher said.  
"He has the skill, it's true. But the skills do not make the hero. He must be strong of heart," the final watcher said. He had a scar across his right eye.  
"I believe he is. Have a little faith," the white haired watcher said.  
"We're leaving our fates in his hands. We're relying…" the pale watcher began.  
"Yes, yes we already know how much you're against this whole idea, how we've already relied on _his_ words for too long, but I think the King is right. His fate was already decided the day…" the scarred watcher began.  
"Can we not talk about that, please?" the pale watcher interrupted.  
"Ooh, getting a little touchy in you're old age, aren't you?" the white haired watcher laughed.  
"_**SHUT UP, ARIEL**_!" he replied, angrily.  
"Quit it, both of you! Alexis just killed the big guy!" the winged watcher said, surprised.  
They turned back to the viewer. "Wow, maybe the guy does have what it takes… We'll have to wait and see," the scarred watcher said. They all nodded.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I removed the end of Persephone from its throat, and it disappeared. I sighed in a mixture of relief and exhaustion. "That was _tough_." Sam said, sitting in the corner of the room.  
"I know. I'm fucked…" I said, sitting on the floor.  
"So, now what are we gonna do?" Pippa asked. Alice helped Sam to her feet.  
"Rest…" I said, faintly, living in hopes that I knew would be dashed. Suddenly, a loud roar preceded a hard smack onto the bottom of the balcony, causing parts of it to crack.  
"_What the hell was that_?!?" Alice shouted. It happened again, and parts of the floor fell through. I looked down to see the Savage Heart Pippa knocked over the balcony earlier.  
"Shit. It's Cyberdyne's finest, again." I groaned.

The Savage Heart looked as if it smiled, as it jumped into the balcony again. The floor underneath me caved in.

"_Fuck_!" I shouted, grabbing onto the remains of the balcony's floorboards.  
"Alex!" Sam shouted, as I tried to get back up. She tried to get to me, but the floor kept crumbling at her feet.  
"_No, Sam, go to the door_!_Get out of here_!" I pleaded, trying to get up.  
"I'm not leaving you!" she shouted back.  
"GO!" I replied, slipping back.  
"Come on, the whole thing's gonna go!" Pippa said, grabbing her. Alice helped, and they dragged her toward the Boiler Room. I felt my hands slipping.  
"No, _I can't do it_!" Sam shouted, wrestling free of them and running at me, skipping over the holes.  
"_Sam,__**what are you doing**_" Alice and I shouted together.  
"Easing my conscience," she replied. She jumped over another hole and landed above me. Smiling at me, she grabbed my arm and waist and pulled up with all the strength she could. I managed to get my knee up with all the strength she could Trring to the Sabed, still watching so be careful there' onto the balcony and I crawled to relative safety, getting to my feet.  
"Thanks, but don't do that to me again! You scared the hell out of me!" I said, pecking her on the cheek and grabbing Persephone.

The Savage Heart roared again as we ran into the Boiler Room. I span around as the balcony crashed on top of him. His legs, visible under the rubble, slowly disappeared.  
"That got him..." I said, turning toward the inside of the Boiler Room. As expected, there was a door at the end of the room. It was highly decorated, kind of like art-deco styling. "Alright, guys. We only have one option now. Let's explore the unknown." I said, going to the door. The last thing I remember was opening it, before I hit a dream world…


	6. Part 1:: Chapter 5: The Door Closes

I was falling into endless darkness, just like Sora had many different times.  
"Fantastic." I thought, unable to control my decent. Suddenly, I jerked to a halt.  
"Hey, there you are. You took your time…" A voice said, laughing. I recognised the voice.   
"Mickey?" I asked. He appeared above me, offering his hand. He was wearing a black leather hoodie.  
"Yeah, it's me, but please, I'm a king, could you address me as such please?" he asked, nicely. I took his hand and he helped me up.  
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll remember that, King Mickey. What's going on?" I asked.  
"You're breaking the barrier of the worlds. It's strange that the barrier chooses to be represented in such a way. It's a pain in the ass if you ask me…" he replied. I was stunned - Mickey Mouse just swore. The King noted my silence and looked at me, noticing my shocked expression. "Oh, sorry." he laughed.  
"Nah, it's okay… Where does this door lead?" I asked.  
"Spira." he replied. I remembered Spira; it was the land in Final Fantasy 10 and X-2.  
"Oh boy, that's Yuna's world." I said.  
"Ah, you'll know quite a lot of what you're gonna come across on this adventure. It ain't gonna be like your search for the Holy Grail, you'll have seen quite a lot of the worlds before, thanks to Walt and company." Mickey said.   
"Walt...?" I asked, eyebrow raised for a moment before it dawned on me what he had said before that. "Wait a minute, how do you know about the Grail?"

"I've been tracking you for a long time, Alexis. You've been _blessed, _touched by something you wouldn't even be able to comprehend." he replied.  
"What? How…" I began.  
"I'm sorry I can't tell you more, _its time for you to go_" he replied before I could even finish, turning away.  
"Wha…!" I said, falling out of the darkness.

A silver-haired figure joined the King. "What do you think of him?" he asked.  
"I don't know, Riku. He seems about as harmful as Pluto while you're stroking his belly." he laughed.  
"But…" Riku urged. Mickey sighed, walking past Riku.  
"There is a fire in his eyes. The same I once saw in Sora. _I don't know what it means_, but I know one thing…"  
"And that is?" Riku laughed, walking slightly behind him.  
"Alexis is going to have a lot of troubles to deal with before this is over, whether he can save us or not." he said, disappearing.  
"I hope he can, _not even Sora can win this one_." Riku said, disappearing with him.

I landed heavily, bouncing along the floor like a rubber ball. I saw Sam, Alice and Pippa lying unconscious on the floor with me before I blacked out.

When I woke up, I saw a ray of light peaking through a waterfall. I tried to stand, but realised my hands and legs were tied together.

"Oh shit." I said. The others were nowhere to be seen. A large, blue, hairy beast, equipped with a trident, dropped from the top of the cave and pointed the trident at my head. He resembled Kimahri Ronso from FF10, but this one was younger.  
"Friend or foe!" he shouted. I didn't know how to reply.  
'_Damn, I'm fucked…_' I thought.


	7. Part 2:: Another Opens: Introduction

The Bible said...

In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth, and the Earth was without form and void; And Darkness was upon the face of the Deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said let there be light; and there was light. And God saw the light; that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day and the darkness Night...

The divide has never been so distinct as it is now...


	8. Part 2:: Chapter 1: Rude Awakenings

Alice woke up in a softly lit, tactile room, with bright colours, drapes, synthetic furs and wall hangings. A smell of musky incense filled her lungs, soothing her aching head, making her fall asleep. She dreamt…

She dreamed of me…

She dreamed of me in a battle to the death with a savage beast. ...A RUDE AWAKENING…

"Alex!" she shouted, jerking up into a sitting position. A hand was placed softly onto her shoulder.  
"Please, be careful, you had a nasty bump to your head." a woman's soft voice sweetly. For the first time, Alice noticed there was someone sat next to her. The woman smiled. "We found you in a waterfall cavern. You had gotten hurt pretty badly." she said, comforting her.

"Who are you?" Alice asked.  
"My name is Yuna. And you?"  
"Alice. Alice Ramirez." she replied, sliding toward the headboard of the 4-poster bed she was currently on.  
"Well, Alice, can you remember what happened in that cave?" she asked Alice. Alice thought for a second, and then she became wide eyed.

"What happened to my friends?" she asked Yuna, panicking.  
"The other two women that were with you were okay, but suffered blows to the head that rendered them unconscious. They're resting with my friend Lulu." she replied, purposefully skirting around a particular subject.  
"Pippa and Sam… But, what about Alexis, did you rescue him too?" Alice asked. Yuna's change in expression told her that something wasn't right. "Oh no…" she whispered to herself.  
"We got you and your other friends away from the waterfall, but on the way back a young Kasrami Clan Ronso beat us to him. The rest of his hunting pack quickly followed, so we had to leave him. I'm sorry…"  
Alice started to cry. "Oh my god, what will they do to him?" she said, covering her mouth.  
"Thankfully, the Ronso don't hunt humans. They were most probably just wary of his allegiance to the Clans and taken him to their leader…" Yuna replied.  
"To do what?"  
"Fight."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_Hey, wake up, kid…_

_Wake up, dude._

_**WAKE UP!!!**_

I felt something hit my head, and it shook out my cobwebs. I slowly sat up and picked the offending object up off of the floor. It was Persephone in its Battle Staff form.

"Hmm… He's up." A voice said, behind me. I turned to see a rough looking old man with grey hair and a headband, and a young man with blonde, spiky hair. Both I recognised easily.  
"Well, well, well. It's Jecht and Tidus. I thought you two were goners…" I said, not resisting mentioning the crossing over differences.  
"Look, Alexis, we don't have time to explain everything, just get up." a third voice said, from across the hall. I looked towards its direction to see another familiar face.  
"How do you know my name, Squall? And how did you get here?" I asked, using Persephone as a crutch.  
"I don't have time; just get us out of here. Besides, I'd have thought you would have known better than that - call me Leon." he replied  
"You'll always be Squall Leonheart to me, champ." I smiled.


	9. Part 2:: Chapter 2: Squall of Thunder

"Come on, Alexis, let's get out of here." Squall said.  
"What makes you think I'm going to go anywhere without some information?" I replied.  
"Because we asked nicely?" Tidus suggested. I threw a discarding gesture towards him.  
"Look, kid, it's really important that we get outta here now…" Jecht added.  
"I'm not a kid, and I ain't going anywhere until I get some answers from Squall or…"  
"Leon." he interrupted.  
"_Squall_." I replied.  
"LEON!" he shouted, annoyed.  
"SQUALL!" I shouted back.  
"**LEON**!!!" he shouted louder. I rolled my eyes.  
"Screw it, what the hell are _you_ doing here?!?" I shouted.  
"I told you, we don't have time!"  
I smiled and sat down on the floor. "Make time." I replied. They all looked at me as I transformed Persephone back into its ordinary form. Squall growled.  
"Alright! I'll tell you what you want to know," he said, kicking the cell's bed. I smiled and stood back up.  
"Okay, what brings you here?" I asked. Squall sighed and looked at the floor for a few minutes.  
"…I was sent by the Organisation to meet you when you came through the door." he replied. I was surprised.

"The Unknowns? But, why?"  
"I don't know… They said they knew that you, Alexis Edmenton, were about to open Earth's door again, and I should come here to make sure you stay alive long enough for them to find out why. They said they would find us once I had met you."  
"They want to speak to us? Is that the reason for this rush?"  
"No, if we don't get outta here, the Ronso clan that have us under lock and key are going to make us fight a big monster. We don't want that, believe me. So, we need to get out of here." Tidus said. I nodded in recognition.  
"Oh… Right, well we better get this over with quickly, then. Have we got a way to escape from this planet?" I asked Squall, with a sense of urgency creeping up on me. Squall gave me a funny, accusing look. I thought over my words and realised how they sounded. "I mean, how did you get here?" I rephrased myself. Squall nodded.  
"I did have a Gummi Ship, but it was dismantled when I was captured, we'd have to rebuild It."  
"Sweet. That's not a problem. What about the rest of your people? Yuffie, Cid, where are they?"  
"I left them in Traverse Town. We'll have to meet them as soon as we get out of here. What about your friends? The ones you were supposed to come through the door with?"

I thought quietly. "I… I don't know. We were together when we got through, but the next thing I knew a Ronso had captured me. He asked me which Clan I was aligned to, but I couldn't answer him, you know that. I was knocked out as more arrived, and then I woke up here… I hope they're alright…" I said, solemnly.  
"You'll never find out if we get killed by the monster. Come on!" Jecht said, standing up. Tidus followed suit.  
"No, you're right. I'm nearly done... How come you and Tidus are still alive then?" I directed to Jecht.  
"Well, technically, we never were, but, from what Squall told us while you were away with the aeons, you'd already know that, right?" Jecht replied. I nodded.  
"Yes, well, when we defeated Yu Yevon, we were ascended, but something dragged me, us, back. To this day, we don't know why it happened. We've just kept our heads down and stayed out of trouble. We didn't want to hurt any of the friends who thought we were gone for good. Unfortunately, this Ronso clan have been after us for a long time. If we're not careful, we might find out why." Tidus replied.  
"O.K. Final question, why am I the person who has been chosen to…" I began  
"I don't know anything else, Alexis... I'm only a Guardian, those things are on a need-to-know basis, and I don't need to know." Squall replied, cutting me off. I sighed.  
"Right, then, let's get out of here." I said, pressing the Scythe button on Persephone. I swung it diagonally at the bars of the cell, and it cut through, causing the iron wall to collapse. I smiled smugly.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Sam woke up with Pippa and Alice sat next to her in bed.  
"Hi, Sam. Are you alright?" Pippa asked, as Sam stirred. Sam looked up at them both.  
"Err… I think so. Bit battered. Where's Alex?" she asked, sitting up. Alice and Pippa grimaced.  
"Kinda hoped you wouldn't ask that yet…" Alice said. Sam's eyes widened.  
"Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. What happened?" she replied, getting off the bed.

**A little while later, as they explained what had happened…**

"Well, do we go after them?" Sam asked.  
"No doubt." Alice said.  
"We were only waiting for you to wake up." Pippa replied.  
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Sam said.  
"Wait." A voice said from the doorway. It was Yuna.  
"Yuna, what is it?" Alice asked. She pulled two winged pistols from her skirt. Sam reacted instantly.  
"_**LOOK OUT**_" she said, jumping to the front of the girls and getting ready to fire a spell. Pippa pulled her aside.  
"No, you dopey bint, she's one of the people who saved us!" she said, putting her down. Sam's eyes widened as she bit her fist and sat down, mouthing sorry.  
"I wanted to give you these, Alice." Yuna said, glancing to Sam with an embarrassed but forgiving look before handing the guns to Alice. Though she took them in a way that she was expected them to be heavy, Alice was pleasantly surprised by their lightness. "They are called Vengeance and Redemption; they were given to me by a stranger visiting the Calm Lands. The guns seem to run on its own limitless energy."  
"They're beautiful... But, why give them to me?" Alice replied.  
"The Stranger told me that these were destined to arrive in the hands of a loving, gentle-hearted woman fighting for a just cause… I want you to have them." she finished. They exchanged looks and smiles.  
"Are you going to come with us to help?" Alice asked. She shook her head.  
"I can't. I must ensure a salvageable peace between the different Ronso clans, and between them and the other races on Spira. It's my job. Good luck, Alice... All of you." She finished. They nodded at each other.  
"Let's go, guys." Alice said.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Which way is the exit?" Squall said, as he led the way.  
"No idea. Guys?" I replied, talking to Tidus and his father.  
"Nope." Jecht replied.  
"I've never been here before." Tidus replied.  
"DAMN IT!" Squall and I shouted. I looked at him.

"I hate crossroads, Squall... As we can't split up, I'll take the baton and say we go straight on and hope for the best." I said.  
"For the last time, its _Leon_, and I think we should go left," he replied. I smiled at him and shook my head.  
"You will argue this till the end of time... All right, tell you what, we go straight forward, and if I'm wrong, I will forever call you Leon. If I'm right, you have to put up with your real name, deal?" I replied. He sighed.  
"Fine, let's just go already." he said.

We ran up the corridor and saw a light at the end of it. I laughed, and I'm pretty sure I heard Squall sigh. As we got out, we realised it wasn't the exit. We came out at a huge dome-like structure and Ronso, tridents at the ready, suddenly surrounded us. I hung my head low. "Sorry, guys. Sorry… Leon." I said, sitting down and throwing Persephone to the floor.  
"It's alright, man. We can get through this." Tidus said, ready to fight.  
"Are you sure?" Squall - sorry, _LEON_ - replied.  
"We've come up against worst odds, and we're still here. Damn straight." Jecht said. The Ronso started to close in.

"STOP!!!" A voice boomed. The stopping of the Ronso told me the voice was of the leader. They backed up, and a scarred Ronso in tribal paints stepped forward. The one scar in particular gave away his identity...

His horn was missing...


	10. 2::Chapter3:The Beast of Macalania Basin

"Kimahri…" Tidus said.  
"Hello, old friend." he replied.  
"You guys know each other?" Leon asked.  
"They were both one-time guardians to Yuna." I said, standing up again. Kimahri looked at me, puzzled by my knowledge. "_Chief, it's hard to explain_…" I started. Tidus sharply elbowed me in the ribs.  
"Let me handle this, bro." he whispered. He stepped closer to the Ronso.

"You've been after us for a long time, Kimahri. I'd like to know... Why?" he asked.  
"Yuna should know you alive." he replied. Tidus seemed surprised.  
"But it'd hurt her. You can't wish that upon your friend, can you?"  
"Kimahri knows." He responded, sounding a little conflicted.  
"Then why?"  
"Duty, Tidus. You stop tribal warfare. Reunite all clans and races, like you and Father's actions split them."  
"You mean _Sin_, not me." Jecht interrupted. Kimahri nodded in reply.  
"I didn't mean to cause that, how was I supposed to know our hiding would set off a civil war for power amongst the Ronso?" Tidus said.  
"Civil war caused split. Segregated Ronso. Must reunite before we destroy all Ronso."  
"But how can I fix it?"  
"You disappear, Ronso fear Sin's return with no saviour. Certain Ronso wanted to become stronger, civil war began. You reappear, fear subsides. You reunite Ronso, Tidus. But…"

"What?" Leon said.  
"First, Tidus and others must fight Beast," he said.  
"What! But…" I started.

"You, caught by Kimahri son, correct?" he said to me, snapping.  
I hesitated, but figured that since the little bastard that got me was a younger looking Kimahri Ronso, he must have been, so I nodded.  
"Then you all must fight. Talking over," he said.  
"What! You can't let us fight the Beast! You want to show Yuna I'm alive, reunite the clans, but kill me before you can! It doesn't…" Tidus shouted.  
"Tradition. Live captures must fight for freedom. Can't break tradition, even for Kimahri friend. Sorry… You'll survive. Always do…" He walked away. The gates behind us closed. Kimahri and the others left through the other gate and it closed behind them.  
"Now what do we do, Tidus?" I asked.  
"We wait for the Beast of Macalania Basin, the Kasrami Clan pet." he replied.  
"What the heck is that?" I replied. Suddenly, the floor started to shake and rumble, and a flap in the floor of the dome opened up.  
"Here it comes…" Jecht said.

A large snowy lizard stomped its way out of the floor. It had to have been at least 40 foot tall, breathing deathly cold air. "That's a_bloody big _reptile…" I said, holding Scythe-mode Persephone tightly.  
"We need an attack plan before this thing can eat us…" Leon said.  
"Let's just go up to it and twat it in the happy sacks, it'll go down like anything else…" I said. The others just stared at me as the lizard began to turn towards us.  
"Kid, I have _no idea_ what you just said." Jecht replied. I shrugged.  
"Earth humour, I'll explain it to you sometime." I replied. The lizard noticed us and made a strange noise, not quite a roar, but something along those lines.  
"It's seen us…" Tidus said, stepping back. Suddenly, a sword and a ball were thrown through the gate behind us, skidding to our feet. A Ronso was stood there.  
"Leader apologises for forgetting. Here are weapons," he said to Tidus and Jecht.  
"What about me?" Leon asked. The Ronso pointed to the wall beside us. There was a hook upon it, and from the hook hung a Gunblade.  
"Already considered. Leader wishes luck." he said. Squall ran to the hook and took the weapon down. He swung it downward and slung it onto his shoulder.  
"Alright, guys, it's no good just waiting for it to eat us. Let's just face up against it and fight." I said. The lizard began to walk slowly towards us.  
"You're right." Tidus said, picking up the sword and throwing the ball to Jecht. I finally recognised it as a Blitzball.  
"Let's do it." Jecht said.  
The lizard suddenly picked up speed and charged towards us. We jumped out of the way and it collided into the wall. It grunted and backed away. "Oh man, this guy is quicker than he looks." Leon commented.  
"Hmm… Nice mastery of understatement, Leon." I replied, swinging Persephone back. I swung it at the lizard, but its icy breath lashed at my hand, causing me to lose my grip of it. It slid across the floor and narrowly missed Leon's legs. "Damn, that's _cold_!" I shouted, blowing onto my hands to warm them up.  
"_Watch it_! I need my ankles!" Leon said, picking up Persephone again. He threw it at me and I caught it.  
"Sorry, Leon, that was my bad." I said, ready to swing again. The lizard turned around and threw us along the arena with its powerful tail. "_Whoa_!" I shouted, flying through the air. I crashed into the side of the dome and slid down it. "Ouch." I said, falling to my knees.

I saw Tidus jumping onto its back. "Alright!" he shouted, standing up. Jecht kicked the Blitzball into the Lizards ribs, but it didn't affect it.  
"Goddamn, this lizard seems invincible." Jecht said.  
"I don't think so." Leon said, confidently. He ran at the lizard from the side and jumped, slashing at his stomach, the move I recognised as the Rough Divide. The lizard recoiled, but it only seemed to be a scratch. Tidus was slashing at its back to no avail.  
"_Bleed_ you damn Lizard!" he shouted. I got back to my feet.  
"This tactic isn't working, guys…" Jecht said. Leon sighed and backed away. Jecht followed suit.  
"You're right." Tidus said, jumping off. I joined them. The lizard turned towards us, and I realised something…

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**Somewhere else, as my battle began... **

"Hmm, seems Alexis is in a pickle..." Ariel said, as the Watchers again gathered around the viewer they watched us with.  
"Perhaps." the scarred watcher replied.  
"Come on, Ariel. We both know the odds are going to be stacked against him on his quest; this is going to be only a taster of what he has to come. You should be _cheering him on_," the winged watcher said.  
"I'm trying, Shiva. But he seems lost without his friends… At least, subconsciously." she replied.  
"I know, I can feel it too… But he's got a good brain on him, he'll figure this out." Shiva replied.  
"He's tired. He's gone through a lot in such a little timeframe. He's taking time to recover, mentally and physically, but I think he's perfectly capable of picking himself back up," the scarred watcher said, walking away.  
"Ever the optimist, Raijik…" the pale watcher said, hiding in the wings. Raijik stopped in his tracks and clenched his fist.  
"Again with the attitude…" he muttered under his breath. He turned as Ariel and Shiva saw the Lizard charge at us.

"Whoa, that's a damn speed-demonic dinosaur…" Shiva said.  
"Come on, Alex!" Ariel shouted.

"What the heck is your problem?" Raijik shouted.  
"Oh, you know EXACTLY what my problem is. Leaving the fate of life in general in the hands of an inexperienced young pup as Alexis Edmenton, A snot-nosed brat, is suicide," the pale Watcher sounded off.  
"Oh, you will not let this lie, will you? This is all in the past, North. Or would you're retro-self prefer you're real name…"  
"Don't you dare say it, Raijik! I have eternally disowned that name!" North snapped.  
"And you lost all of the other rights that went with it!"

"Ouch, that lizard doesn't play fair…" Ariel said.  
"That icy breath could make Popsicles out of them." Shiva replied.  
"Says you, Ice Queen." Ariel laughed. Shiva playfully pushed her and laughed. As the Scythe blade narrowly missed Squall's legs, Shiva flinched.  
"God, he can be so _clumsy_ sometimes…" she said, shaking her head.

"Face it, North; you have lost all of the things you have tried to keep yourself alive to have…" Raijik told him. North stayed quiet, with his head hung low. "And you know I'm right…"  
"I just wish that none of it ever happened…" he replied, angry, seemingly with himself.  
"We all do, but it was taken out of our hands…"

"Ooh… That had to hurt…" Shiva said, as I slid down the wall.  
"COME ON, ALEXIS! GET BACK UP AND STOP THAT BULLY!" Ariel shouted.

"And what of our operative?" Raijik said, asking Shiva and Ariel.  
"…Hang on a second…" Ariel said, performing a spell. Another viewer opened alongside the other and it showed Alice, Sam and Pippa being directed to the Ronso camp by Lulu, Yuna's friend, with a magic charm. "Looks like they are on their way to rescue them." she said. She ran her hand over the viewer and it closed up and disappeared.  
"They're huddled up, now… I think Alexis has figured out something…" Shiva said.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"My god, why didn't I realise that earlier…" I said, smiling, huddling the group together.  
"What?" Leon asked.  
"The lizard… It's icy, right?" I responded, gripping Persephone tightly, ready to spring into action at any given moment.  
"Yeah, so?"  
"Come on, I just play the games, you _live_ it… What does Ice hate most?"  
"Fire!" Tidus interrupted.  
"Heat." Jecht replied. Leon smiled.  
"Good thinking." he told me. It seemed as if he was being sarcastic. Meanwhile, we watched in silent horror as the Ice lizard reared up on its hind legs for some type of attack. We readied ourselves.  
"Alexis, thanks for the idea, but maybe it would work if we _had_ any fire?" he continued. I cursed myself and slapped my forehead with my palm for being so foolish, but I couldn't respond, because the Ice beast suddenly flung itself into the air. We were scattered by the sudden force of its leap.

I gripped Persephone even harder than before. When the lizard landed, I barely avoided the front legs of the massive creature. It lashed its tail at me, and I was forced to do nothing but wait for the impact. At the last moment, something in me made my legs move with a speed that even surprised me. And, for some reason, Gabriel Fisher's name popped up in my mind, and I had a vision of the Heartless, the unrelenting determination of the dark beings. They had returned, but something was different... Their eyes seemed to portray an eternal fury that resided within them... Snapping out of the bizarre vision, I managed to dodge the width of the tail, but got caught by the tip. It stung like hell, propelled through the air again by the sheer force. I flew towards another wall at high speed, still trying to get my head around what had just happened.

Leon got up from the ground, seeing that he was completely intact. "Shit… That was lucky." He thought. He saw me flying through the air, with a fixed look on my face. Despite that, and the pain he felt in his chest, he ran forward to see me do something, in his opinion, remarkable.

I saw the hook that only the moments earlier Leon had taken his Gunblade off, that were about two feet from each other, and I reached for them. Grabbing them, I kicked against the wall, stopping the impact. Suddenly, I felt my whole body plunge downward, as if gravity's pull intensified on me. I landed on the floor with a thudding shock that hurt my back. "Ow…" I sighed. Convinced that my arms had pulled out of their sockets, I sat there watching the tail swish back and forward, and I saw Tidus keeping the creature at bay, though I couldn't see how or why.

Leon stopped in his tracks half way across to the lizard; he didn't even notice he was running, holding the Gunblade square against his chest. The lizard snapped his head up and reared up onto his hind legs again. Something was bothering it, and Leon realised that something was around its neck. Whatever it was, it was wrapped around his neck to prevent it from escaping, and Tidus was pulling on it.

The creature bent his legs quickly, and prepared to jump, only to feel Leon's Gunblade hack at the muscles of its back legs. It squealed in pain and it stumbled back. The front legs came crashing down and they caught Leon, sending him flying. The Gunblade was flung to the side of the dome. He felt the intense pain, nothing like he had felt for in a long time. Perhaps it was because he was too adept with the sword, had gotten TOO good… These were his last thoughts before he blacked out.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

In the stands, the Ronso watched on uncomfortably.

"This not right. The Beast has been tainted. He's too vicious... We should stop this fight." Kimahri said to himself. His guards shook their heads.

"Even though that is true, Kimahri can't. Not only would you seem weak, beast could escape. Lose-lose situation." One of them spoke up. Kimahri growled, acknowledging the fact.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The lizard started to swish its tail violently, inches from my head. As it swung the tail back far enough away from me, I used the hooks to jump to my feet and flipped back, putting my legs against the wall and balanced myself so I hung in the air. As I did, the tail lashed back violently at the exact spot my head was seconds earlier. It would have taken it off had I still been there. I sighed in relief as I jumped back down. I saw Leon knocked out on the floor, and realised that the lizard was turning his attention towards him.

Tidus started sprinting towards the fallen man. He turned his head and saw the creature rear back again, its feet ready to crush him. He yelled at Leon, but his voice was drowned out by the lizard's sudden roar.  
He got to Leon and started dragging him aside. I ran to help, and Tidus looked up, seeing the ice creature turned its attention to me. "ALEXIS! LET ME HANDLE IT!" he shouted.  
"No, we're in this together…" I replied. Leon's chest was oozing blood. I raised my head to see the lizard above us, his eyes evidently focused on Leon's bleeding wound, and my head.  
"Damn it, he wants you!" he replied, dropping Leon. He stirred at the impact on the floor, and the first thing he saw as he opened his eyes was the creature making a mad dash forward to Tidus and me.

I had a split second to take in what was going on. I realised Jecht had apparently gone missing. The second thing I noticed was that we were close to the wall of the dome, which I hadn't studied real well. The third thing was that Leon's Gunblade lay parallel to Leon and the creature. I brought up Persephone to my head. Luckily, it was still with me, but I didn't notice that I brought it back into its original rod form. The ice creature saw this, and changed its course to bring its head about to the rod.

Leon observed that there was a wide black mark on the bottom of the neck, one he half-recognised. It was very similar to a symbol he knew, but something had changed about it. However, he was too out of it to tell the rest of us. He hadn't got up even with the coldness bearing down on him.

"Shit!" I yelled as it bit down onto Persephone. And I felt something else, an impaling pain. I saw that the face of the lizard was actually pretty small, but it made up for that trait with massive teeth, two of which were bearing down onto my right hand. "Argh!!!" I screamed in pain. The lizard seemed to smile, and locked its jaw in place as it breathed.  
"Cold!" I managed to stutter, through the pain and sub-zero breath that were currently heading my way. With my other hand, I instinctively moved over and touched the scythe button on Persephone. The creature pushed me further against the wall and was trying to breathe over me. I pushed back, but I could feel myself getting weaker and weaker. Leon was still lying down.  
"LEON!!! GET UP AND HELP ME OUT, MAN!" I shouted at him. He didn't react.  
I looked back at the would-be-scythe, but it didn't even open up, I could see the glimmer of the wide blade, but it wouldn't come through. I vaunted a second try to rouse Leon.  
"SQUALL, I'M HURT UP HERE! I NEED YOUR HELP!!!" I shouted. He still had no reaction.  
"Damn it!" I shouted at myself. A strange smell started to fill my nostrils, but I couldn't place what it was.  
I pushed Persephone further inside the mouth of the creature. I saw the scythe open up, and then I felt a sickening coldness come over me.  
"No! Not now! I'm almost done…" I said, losing consciousness.  
The final move of the Scythe, before it becomes fully functional, is to bring the blade out of its sheathe of metal it resides in, around the tip of Persephone and propel it forwards, sending the blade across. I saw the scythe go thought the side of the creature's mouth where it went through the front part of the skin. The blood that oozed from it was amazingly warm… Or was it _my_ blood? I was pinned down, and I had nothing else to do, for the teeth were preventing me from moving the blade further to the throat. I couldn't hold on anymore, so I closed my eyes.

Strangely, I couldn't see black… I saw myself, Leon, Tidus and Jecht, who was hanging from the top of the dome structure, retrieving something from it; at the very instant I closed my eyes. We were still moving, but I could see everything at some other point of view. 'Am I dead?' I thought, assuming this I was seeing my spirits' point of view.  
NO, ALEX. IT IS MY EYES YOU SEE FROM. A voice inside my head told me. It sounded like the voice that told me that I 'should find my light', back on Earth... I couldn't be sure in this state, and it seemed so long ago to me.  
'Who are you?'  
I'M JUST A MAN WHO WANTS TO HELP YOU.  
'Do I know you?'  
NOT PERSONALLY. I'M JUST HERE TO FULFIL A PROMISE I MADE TO A… FRIEND.  
'Oh great, you're another one who's tangled in my destiny, aren't you?'  
YES. WE ARE DESTINED TO MEET. AND THAT MEANS YOU CAN'T DIE. SO, OPEN YOUR DAMN EYES AND FINISH THIS!  
'I wish I could…'

Leon put his hands onto the ground and pushed himself up. "I'm coming, Alexis…" he said weakly. He got to his knees and turned. He saw that my eyes were closed, and contrary to the situation, the enemy's eyes were wide open, and it was making strange noises. He saw the Gunblade, and jumped up, although the cold made him fall back down. "Damn!" Leon rolled out of the way, and he saw that the Scythe had gone through the left of the creature's mouth, and he brought his Gunblade alongside his own head.  
_A window of opportunity had been made..._

YOU CAN DO IT, ALEX. YOU AREN'T DEAD, NOT YET.  
'Tell that to my body. I'm going numb…'  
YOU DID THE GROUND WORK. YOUR FRIENDS CAN SAVE YOU.  
'I… just met them… How can they be my friends?'  
The other voice went quiet.  
'You there, dude?'  
TRUST THEM, ALEXIS. THE CHOSEN ONES MUST ALWAYS HAVE FRIENDS BESIDE THEM, WITHOUT THEM, THEY ARE NOTHING. NOW, OPEN YOUR EYES, ALEX…

"ARGH!" Leon yelled as he brought his Gunblade across the tear that Persephone had made. The cut made the lizard's jaw unlock as I opened my eyes. My hands dropped out as I stumbled back, and Persephone fell to the floor.  
"TIDUS! NOW!" Jecht's voice bellowed. Apparently Tidus and Jecht had been coming up with a plan.

Tidus ran up to me and stood facing the lizard. His sword had reeds from the beams of the Dome wrapped around it, and they had been set alight. Tidus brought the blade across its neck. The flesh tore away and it bled profusely. The lizard retched back, howling loudly. The howl quickly dropped to a whimper, and it collapsed. It was dead.

I fell to the ground, my right hand bleeding horribly. My other hand seemed blue, and no blood seemed to flow to that section of my damaged body. 'Oh god… I can't feel it…' I thought, before I blacked out.  
Leon saw Tidus grab me, and he saw Jecht hobbling over, his leg badly strewn with scratches.  
"I think that was a close call. Good teamwork. Now, let's get Kimahri and a Medic for Alex, before its too late…" Leon said, exhausted.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Raijik looked along with the others, seeing that the boy was very hurt.  
"My god, didn't you see that? Alexis survived that onslaught." Raijik said.  
"Now wait a second Raijik! It wasn't his doing! If it wasn't for Tidus, Squall and Jecht's help, he'd be dead!" North replied  
"No! He had the power and will to keep himself alive, and that proves that he is ready!"  
"No, _he isn't_!"  
"Stop it, you two!" Ariel shouted, getting in between them. Shiva sighed as she listened to the others ramble, taking this into an argument that has no REAL relevancy to the situation at hand.  
'Poor boy', she thought, 'I hope that he will be able to face the next challenge. The way this is going, he'll give up before he even gets close to fulfilling his destiny…'

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I woke up in a hut, surrounded by humans, possibly Al Bhed, looking after me. I saw Kimahri standing over me. "You fight well… Alexis?" he asked, making sure he had the right name. I tried to speak, but I was too weak. I nodded. He smiled at me. "You hurt, but will live. Like Kimahri said."

I lifted my left arm up to look at my hand. It had changed back to a healthier colour, but it was still numb. I couldn't feel it at all. "Hand damaged. Doctors say feeling never come back." Kimahri told me, his face solemn. I sighed.  
'_That's all I need…_' I thought. A tear rolled down my cheek. I wiped it away with my good hand.  
"Hey, is he awake?" I heard Leon's voice from outside the hut. Kimahri nodded. He walked away and Leon walked up to me. He was holding Persephone in its Rod form.

"Believe this belongs to you," he said, placing it next to the bed. He smiled. "You did well kid." he said, ruffling my hair. I tried to speak again.  
"where… Tidus and Jecht…" I managed to say. I tried to wet my lips, but it didn't work.  
"They're alright. They are meeting the other Ronso Tribe leaders, trying to bring some peace amongst the tribes. You've been out for a while. You had a few other visitors while you were out…"  
"who?"  
"You're friends from Earth." I was surprised that they found us, and I tried to sit up. "Take it easy… They left to inform Yuna and the others about what had happened… Tidus was a little upset about it, as you'd probably guess… Sam and Alice didn't want to leave your side in case you woke up, but it was the best for all involved. They left me to apologise in case you did…"  
I managed a smile. Suddenly, an explosion sounded outside, followed by loud growling and noises of battle. Leon looked outside. "Aw hell…" he said, taking his Gunblade from his back holster. "We've got company, Alex… It's a gang of _Savage Hearts_…" he said, looking at me in the eyes.

A small, but sudden, adrenaline boost rushed into my veins as I heard the name. Slowly, I picked up Persephone and threw off the covers. I sat up on the edge of the bed, and carefully stood up. "I'm not ready to fight… But I'm good for getting out of here." I said, wheezing. My voice was still pretty weak.  
"But your hand? It might get permanently damaged…" Leon said, concerned.  
I activated the Snake Sword on Persephone. "Already is... Let's just make sure everyone… can get out of here alive, ok?" I said. Leon smiled at me.  
"You've got more guts than sense, kid. You've been knocked out for _only 1 whole day_…"  
"I lived through that lizard… I'm not going out lying down against something... I know I can defeat..."  
Squall sighed. "I guess if you want to make sure everyone is safe, I better make sure you stay safe. Come on, let's go," he said, leaving the hut.


	11. 2:: Chapter 4: The Half Decent Escape

I stood at the corner of the hut's door and looked across the expansive forestlands below. The village had a few huts, some technologically enhanced. Seemed like the Al Bhed and Ronso had came to an agreement of some kind… Mossy swampland was dotted at the floor, and the canopy level of all the tall trees that supported the huts provided a much-needed shade to the blazing hot sun.

At least 100 feet below me, the Savage Hearts were causing major carnage and destruction to the village. Head counting the big purple demons, I scanned the village for possible hot zones for civilian casualties. As I looked, I realized the attacks weren't as random as it seemed. They were attacking the injured escaping from the huts. And I thought I knew why…

"Dude, Leon, I think they're looking for me…" I said, gripping Persephone weakly.  
"What?" he asked.  
"They're attacking injured people. They are after me, I know it." I said, wheezing slightly. I felt a panic attack building up.  
"Calm down Alex. C'mon, you can get through this, like you said, after that lizard, you can do anything." Leon replied, unusually comforting. I smiled and tried to catch my breath. All of a sudden, the Savage Hearts all looked towards me.  
"Shit!" I shouted, stepping back. I felt dizzy for a second, but it faded as suddenly as it appeared, with it bringing back some of my stamina, which helped me breathe a bit better. I sighed in relief and turned to Leon. "I think I'm starting to feel better... You said you were here to guard me, right?" I asked.  
"Yep." he replied, slinging his Gunblade from off his shoulder and to his chest.  
"Then let's go. I'm not ready to fight, but I feel good enough to blow this place." I replied, going to the edge of the hut.

The Savage Hearts let out a huge roar as I stepped down the ladder. "Leon, I counted 40 of them, if we want to avoid a fight, we better act fast." I shouted up to him. He gave me the O.K. signal. I hopped to the floor and landed in a crouched position to avoid leaping Ronso trying to get out of the way. Leon slid down the rest of the ladder and joined me.  
"Alexis, we need to get to the waterfall on the outskirts of the village, they'll never catch us there." he said, helping me up. I felt my drained strength beginning to return to me now, my legs carrying my own weight again. I slowly moved away from Leon, moving his arm away. "W… what?" Leon said, surprised. I breathed in deeply, stretching a little. "Alex, are you alright?"  
"I'm getting almost all my strength back…" I replied.  
"But… How? You were almost dead a little while ago…"  
"It's the Savage Hearts, I can feel them…" I went quiet.

"Feel them _how_?" Leon replied, even more confused than before.  
"They're presence is giving me my strength back… The lizard. What did the lizard do to me…" I said to myself.  
"Of course… That screwed up Heartless symbol on its neck… The lizard was a Savage Heart…" Leon said. I looked at him quizzically. "I was so worried about you I forgot to mention it to anyone…" he replied.   
I looked at the deep green shrubbery surrounding the village at ground level as I had a moment of thought. "Such a beautiful village… Shame it's about to be destroyed." I said. Leon looked worried.  
"Did you hit your head against that lizard at all?" he asked, almost laughing. I was about to reply when a Savage Heart leapt through a hut and ran towards us.

Leon dashed in front of me and ran it through. "Go on ahead, Alex, I'll keep this one at bay." he said, pushing it away from me. I started to run across the forest ground when another Savage Heart leapt at me. Somehow, I felt it coming and rolled underneath him, narrowly avoiding being crushed. I jumped to my feet and standing side kicked it in the head. It stumbled back as I carried on. Ronso blocked the way ahead as they were trying to fight with another of those monsters. "Damn it… I can't fight yet, I'm still healing. Gimme a break, damn it..." I said to myself. I pressed the decoupling button on Persephone and whipped the Snake Sword towards the branch supporting one of the huts above them. I released the button to let it unwrap itself, and then pressed it again, whipping it to a higher branch. I swung to the next branch directly above the brawling beasts, releasing the button on my way across to land safely with Persephone in tow. I crouched and got my first good look at my adversaries, the Savage Hearts. They were ugly bastards, like Heartless pumped up with a year's supply of a pro-wrestler's steroids: huge, muscled and dark purple, with massive antennas. The Fat ones wore a torn waistcoat, whilst the normal ones were naked. "If there's other types of them, I imagine they'd look pretty much the same as they're Heartless counterparts." I found myself saying out loud. I shrugged and swung to the next branch using Persephone.

As I landed, the branch snapped underneath me, causing me to fall towards the ground. "SHIT!" I shouted, twisting around in mid-air. I managed to wedge the blade of the Snake Sword into the tree trunk, supporting me and stopping my decent. "Well, I'm having a bad day…" I said to myself, gripping onto the hilt of Persephone tightly. Suddenly, the Ronso managed to knock down a Fat Savage Heart nearby. The shockwave caused by the impact loosened the blade away from the tree and I fell onto the belly of the purple blob. The landing wasn't exactly cushioned either, as it was mostly muscle, not fat. I growled and swore under my breath as I stood up. It sort of laughed at me as I walked along its stomach. I walked to the head and impaled it through its mouth. "SHUT UP!!!" I shouted, jumping off him. I saw the clearing leading to the side of the waterfall up ahead, and the path was clear of any kind of obstacle. 'I'm nearly there…" I thought, running up to the edge of the cliff.

I was about to jump off when I was rammed from the side and knocked to the floor. I looked up to see a winged Savage Heart flapping its wings above me. It was wearing a hat to small for its head, with goggles attached to them, and remains of a pair of boots. It smiled. DID YOU SERIOUSLY THINK IT WOULD BE THAT EASY, ALEXIS? It asked me. It surprised me twice. 1st, it knew my name. 2nd…

"You can talk?!?" I asked it.  
OF COURSE I CAN. ALEX, WHY DO YOU WANT TO ESCAPE? WHY DO YOU RUN? It smiled.  
"I run because I'm not ready… You don't feel like a Savage Heart… What are you?"  
YOU NEVER ASKED YOURSELF THAT QUESTION? It laughed. I sighed and stood up.  
"Piece of advice, don't play mind games with a guy who got an A in A-level Psychology, it won't work." I said, brushing myself down and cricking my neck. The smile vanished from its face and it growled. I looked at it with my head cocked to one side. "Are you gonna answer my question, or do you want to get your arse kicked?" I asked. It roared and sped towards me again. I placed my hand on its head and leapt over it.

'_I guess I don't have a choice now, I'll have to stand and fight._' I thought, as the flying Savage Heart turned back. I dodged to the side as it made its charge. It slammed into a tree, which made me laugh. It shook the cobwebs out and charged again. "Uh oh." I said, twisting my body sideward. I jumped and kicked it in the face, the twisting motion making me spin in the air. The monster landed on its back and slid across the floor, ramming into a tree, causing the wings to be ripped off. I landed badly, and almost fell to the floor. "If you know what's good for you, stay down." I said, bluffing my arse off. It laughed, seeing straight through me.  
GET REAL, ALEXIS. YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR DEPTH. It said, running at me. A sword suddenly appeared in its hands. I dodged the first slash and ducked the second.  
"Too slow for me, buddy." I said, kicking it in the kidney area of the back. It slashed again, but I blocked it with Persephone. "Hah, attack denied!" I laughed, elbowing him in the neck. It fell to its knees and growled.  
SHUT UP!!! It snapped. It leapt towards me and knocked me to the floor, launching Persephone away from my hands. YOU ARE GOING TO DIE! NOBODY CAN STAND UP TO US!!! He shouted at me, sitting on me. With a maniacal smile, he picked up his sword and aimed it at my eye. He was about to stab me when I wrestled my left arm from underneath him and grab the blade with my numb hand, so, although it cut my hand, I couldn't feel it. "We'll see gramps." I said, pulling my other arm out and grabbing Persephone.

I clicked down the decoupler and whipped across its neck, causing it to wrap around him and strangle him. A smile appeared on its face.  
WELL, YOU WIN, BY THE LOOKS OF IT. GIVE MY REGARDS TO MY BOSS. It laughed, choking.  
"Right before I kill him." I smiled, pulling it tighter.  
NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, ALEXIS. THE DARK WALKER WILL DESTROY YOU.  
"Ooh, Dark Walker. Sounds like a really scary guy." I laughed, placing my foot underneath him.  
HE WILL KILL YOU. IT IS FATE.  
I pushed him over the cliff and pulled back on Persephone hard, breaking its neck. "I write my own fate." I said, pulling harder. Its head was ripped off, and it fell down the cliff. I released the decoupler button.

"Destiny is for…"

I started, hesitating to say it. I realized a sense of Déjà vu had been creeping in on me since the start of this attack from the Savage Hearts.

"…The villains, hell is for…"

I was still trying to think through what was going on. The forest's appearance suddenly changed into that of a rocky desert town for a split second, barely noticeable had it not been so familiar.

"…Heroes?" I finished, confused. The Savage Hearts morphed into black zombie-like demons, the same way the forest had changed for the same amount of time, and it all finally clicked into place.

"Oh my god, of course, why didn't I see it earlier? All this has been a replay of everything I did after I retrieved the Holy Grail and drank from it." I slapped my forehead, scolding myself for my stupidity. I began replaying the events that had had been directly mirrored in the dream. "Recovering in the hospital camp, on the high canopy, with Samantha was at my side instead of Leon. The Ronso have replaced the blessed protectors of the Holy Grail who saved us from the dangerous chambers that held it... But why am I living through this again with my new acquaintances? Am I dreaming?" I said to myself, working it out piece by piece as I turned around. Leon stood behind me with an evil smile. "Yep." he said, in a voice that plainly wasn't his own. Grabbing me, the impostor impaled my shoulder with his Gunblade, pinning me to the rock wall. I screamed for a moment, kicking against the impostor with what strength I had that wasn't being sapped by the pain, but I soon found it futile.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, seething through the pain.

"Heh, names don't matter. Nobody's called me by my real name for nearly 30 years, but I don't mind, everybody knows me by a name that strikes fear in the souls of the strongest warriors... Our real names, they just give meaning to something. My life has no meaning to it. Unfortunately, your life seems to find meaning in destroying all of my hopes, dreams and plans. I can't let that happen," he said. I laughed.  
"Then you must be the Dark Walker." I replied. Leon's image disappeared, and he became is real self. It was a shock. He looked almost exactly like me, albeit a lot older and with closer together features.  
"Resemblance is pretty striking, isn't it Alex?" he said.

"Maybe, but I believe in co-incidences." I lied, trying to get free.  
"It's not just that. Seems we share a destiny, a fate as mirroring as our faces." he continued.  
"I didn't believe in destiny before my visit from KM, maybe I still don't. Why should I listen to you?"  
"We are two sides of the same coin, in equal standing of each other. Two children, abandoned for selfish reasons…"  
His comment riled me. "I wasn't abandoned, my parents died in a car crash." I interrupted, angrily. He looked at me quizzically, and then laughed.   
"Two orphans, our lives revolving around a place of huge evil, that college. The Queen Elizabeth…" It finally dawned on me who this assailant was… I realised what was going on… The main reason why what had happened to me has happened. And I didn't like the idea.  
"Wait… I can't believe… _Gabriel?_" I asked. He smirked at the corner of his mouth.  
"So, you've heard of the amazing Gabe Fisher, huh?" he laughed.  
"Kid, I came here looking for you… But you aren't a kid anymore…"   
"It has been almost 30 years, Alex. Time does that."  
I heard it before, but it still took me by surprise. "30 years… But, it was only 8 on Earth…"  
He laughed again. "Enough talk. It is time for you to die, Alexis." He pulled the Gunblade from out of my shoulder, accompanying a sickening squelching sound. I tried to scream, but my throat suddenly closed up. Gabe swung the Gunblade over his head and brought it back down. I closed my eyes and waited for the eternal closure Death would grant me…

but it didn't come.

I opened my eyes to see a metallic Battle Staff and a Scythe, both similar to my Persephone weapons, linked together, blocking Gabe's attack. I looked past the weaponry to see two people stood alongside Gabriel, holding the weapons. They seemed to be twins, a pair of auburn haired, 30-something guys. The one on Gabe's right was wearing a dark, almost inhuman cloak, with the hood down. He was holding the scythe, which was more like the Scythe of the Grim Reaper, Death himself, than Persephone's version. The one on Gabe's left was wearing a pair of dark blue, turned up jeans, a red t-shirt with a grey Aztec symbol on it, and seemed to be glowing in a dark purplish colour. That one was holding the Battle Staff.

"Not yet, Gabriel." the glowing twin said.  
"You two?!?" Gabe shouted, looking towards the glowing twin.  
"You can't kill Alexis yet, there is a lot more to be done. You can't stop Fate, my friend." the cloaked twin said. The twins spoke with the same voice: accent and all.  
"What are you doing here?!?" Gabe shouted again, looking at the cloaked twin.  
"We were given the heads-up by the Powers That Be that you would try something. With all of your psychic power concentrating on invading Alexis' dreams, you left yourself pretty open to Psychic powers yourself, and Clarissa found you with ease, although it took some figuring out where to look." the glowing twin said.  
"Don't you think this is a bit cowardly, taking out your main rival in his most defenceless state?" the cloaked twin asked, smiling.  
"This has nothing to do with you, stop interfering in my business." Gabe replied, angry.   
"Oh, I beg to differ, see it has everything to do with us. We have a responsibility to protect all people who need our help, and right now, a hell of a lot of people need protecting from you." the cloaked twin replied.  
"Like Alex right now. Isn't that right?" the glowing twin said. I nodded, gripping my shoulder.   
"Who are you guys?" I asked. They smiled.  
"You'll find out eventually. Now go." the cloaked twin spoke, strain in his eyes trying to keep Gabriel at bay.  
"Finish the memory, it'll free you from this spell. Go!" the glowing twin shouted at me, also struggling. I nodded and ran, jumping off the cliff at the end of the forest, just as I did to escape from the hunters during the Grail quest.

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I woke up with a start, in a room not too dissimilar to the one I woke up in within the dream. I was breathing heavily. "What happened? Has this all been a dream?" I said, removing the blankets. I noticed that I had gripped the sheets with my left hand and felt nothing. I looked at it. It was a normal colour, but I still had no feeling in it. "Guess not…" I said to myself. I stood up and felt a pain in my shoulder. "Uh oh, don't tell me…" I said, grasping at it. I sat back down and moved the t-shirt away from the shoulder. Sure enough, a new scar had formed where Gabriel had impaled me, and it still hurt. I sighed, closed my eyes and bit my lip.

'_Why the hell does this always happen to me…_' I thought, holding back tears. I opened my eyes to be greeted by some familiar _friendly_ faces...


	12. 2::Chapter5:Friends & Gaurdians Reunited

"Hey, there, big man. How have you been?" Samantha laughed, Alice and Pippa stood beside her. I smiled as she ran toward me, hugging me around my neck tightly. She stopped and looked at me solemnly. "Dude, I have something I need to tell you…" she said, before hugging me again. "It's about your left hand. It's…" she continued.   
"Dead, the feeling is gone completely; it'll _never_ come back…" I interrupted her, still trying to hold back the tears. Alice and Pippa seemed surprised, and Sam stopped hugging me.   
"My god, how do you know that?" Alice said, surprised.  
"And I take it Tidus and Jecht went to reunite the Ronso clans, huh?" I asked, ignoring the question. Pippa and Alice looked at each other.   
"Not exactly, they came back two days ago. It's already been done. Alex, you've been unconscious for a week, _how_ do you already know all of this?" Pippa said, confusion steeped into her voice. I finally let go of my tears, blubbering like a baby as Sam hugged me again, even tighter then before.

"Alex, what's wrong?" she asked, trying to console me.  
"I keep coming face to face with my own mortality… And I can't cope." I sobbed.  
"What do you mean?"  
Alice closed the door of the hut quietly.  
"When the lizard got my hand, I closed my eyes… I wanted to let go. Something, someone stopped me, made me carry on. I wish it was you guys, but it wasn't. It was just another of the people caught in my web of…" I paused, laughing. "…Destiny." I wiped my eyes to try and stop myself from crying.  
"Alex…" Sam sighed, squeezing even more.  
"There's something else… When I was unconscious…"  
Sam's hand caught my shoulder, causing me to flinch. She let go of me and put her hand to my shoulder gently. "Alexis, what happened to your arm?" She said, feeling the scar.

"I… I had a dream. A replaying of the attack from those demonic hunters after our search for the Holy Grail… In the desert town with the guardians of the Grail, remember?"  
"W… What? What has that got to do with anything?" she asked, confused.  
"Please… Let me explain. In the dream I had, everything changed, it became an adventure in Spira. I... I met Gabriel Fisher there…" I said, tying to get a grip of myself.

"What?!" Pippa shouted suddenly, her face darkening a shade.  
"He… he's aged incredibly. He said it's been 30 years since he went through the door. 30 years, compared to our 8... I still don't understand how this has happened… Gabe invaded my dream, impaled me." I said, putting my hand to my new scar.  
"Alex…" Alice said, as her and Pippa came to comfort me.  
"He isn't an innocent kid anymore… He told me it is my purpose to try and stop him, he's the reason I'm here. And, there's something about him, I got a sense of pure evil in his heart. He wants to kill me, and, for a little while, I wanted him to do it. If it wasn't for those two twins, I'd be dead, if this scar is anything to go by…"  
"Wait a second, what twins? What else happened, Alex?" Alice asked, confused. I proceeded to tell them, without skipping a single detail. 

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"So, these 'Twins' are another couple of people you are meant to meet properly in the future, to make sure you fulfil whatever your destiny is?" Sam asked. I nodded, having calmed down by now.  
"And Gabe, also known as The Dark Walker in these parts, a spitting image of you, has become bitter and twisted in the 30 years he's aged in?" Alice asked. I nodded again. Alice nodded. "They always told me that kid was never meant to be found, now I know why…" she commented. It caused everyone to look at her quizzically, except me, who had a hunch she knew more about Gabe then she let on.  
"So, The Four wanted you to hold the cards to their chest when it came to Gabe's life, huh?" I asked.  
"Yes, I'm afraid so. I was informed that Gabriel Fisher would become a name synonymous with fear. The legends say he is to become an evil greater than anything ever conceived, including Xehanort, I presume. They said he was born into hate, and so it resided in his heart…" Alice said.

Suddenly, in what I could only call a fit of rage, Pippa grabbed Alice and slammed her against the wall. Sam shot up to her feet at a lightning speed and I quickly followed.  
"_What the hell are you doing_?!?" I shouted, putting one arm between them.  
"She knows nothing about how Gabe was brought up. _Nothing_!" she replied, taking no notice of my attempt to separate them and slamming Alice against the wall, pushing me out of the way in the process.

Sam reached out to her. "Pippa, _please_, don't do this. If you admit this now, how do you think Alice and Alex will see you, huh?" she said, almost pleading with her. Pippa slammed Alice against the wall again before I tried to pull them apart.  
"No! They have to know, I can't let them think about Gabe's upbringing like that, they have to know the _truth_. I should have told Alex in the first place…" she said, breaking down into tears herself.  
"Please, Pippa, I'm sorry…"Alice said, scared and in pain. Finally, Pippa let go and fell to her knees, sobbing.  
"_I am Gabriel's mother_!" she shouted, in anguish. Alice and I were stunned  
'_Oh my god…_' I thought. 

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**Inside the base of the Watchers**… 

"_Oh boy_, that let the cat out of the bag." Ariel said.  
"Better now then never. I'm glad they now know why everybody is where they are now." Raijik said.  
"But what if they turn against her, then what?" Shiva said.  
"They won't. Alex and Alice are open-minded; they will understand her when she explains her circumstances." North said.

"Talking of which, Gabe should never have been allowed to enter his mind, we're slipping." Shiva said.  
"We never saw it coming, how were we supposed to know he would try something so _cowardly_ after all the battles he's won with his dreadful talents…?" North said.  
"At least, it gives us a _little_ hope, right? He must be scared of Alex to do something like that, right?" Ariel said. Raijik sighed and walked away from his partners.  
"If the team doesn't stay together, he may not make it to Gabriel. It's that simple." he said over his shoulder. They all went silent. 

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"I was very young, only 16. I was… Some drunken bastard raped me. I was so ashamed about what had happened, but I couldn't get an abortion. It's against every single moral I have… It was just a week before I started to go to college, where I met Samantha, when I gave birth to a little baby boy. It was a blond haired, brown-eyed boy, just like the guy who raped me, and the kid had all of his features… I just couldn't keep him, with all those bad memories in just his face… So I walked out of the hospital and never saw him again. All I left was his nametag. Under the assumed name I had taken, Kerry Fisher, someone I knew as a child, in America, Gabriel Jason Fisher was left to live in an Orphanage for what should have been the rest of his childhood. How was I supposed to know this would happen?" Pippa explained, crying on Sam's shoulder.  
"My god, _I'm so sorry_, Pippa…" I said, hugging her. Alice stroked her back to comfort her.

I was caught with conflicting emotions, as an eerie silence descended upon us. Pippa was a mother torn by the hate of an evil man and the love of a child, and the hate won. Because of that hate, an evil child grew up to what could soon be my worst nightmare. And things just circled in my head...  
_Why didn't she tell me?  
What right did she have to give him away?  
He should have been killed at birth..._

But... In the end, she's a friend. No matter what she did in the past, she isn't responsible for Gabe's actions now...

"Pippa told me at the end of the last year, before we went to the prom, Alex. That's why I was so distant from you. I was scared something like that could happen to me." Sam told me. I smiled at her weakly.   
"Oh, that kinda makes sense…" I said, thinking back.  
"What are you talking about? How long have you guys known each other?" Alice asked. I looked at Pippa. She smiled back through the tears.   
"Go on. I don't mind… I could do with cheering up, to be honest, and you guys seem to have had a happy life." Pippa said.   
"If only that was true…" I said, shaking my head.  
"Come on, I've shared the darkest story of my life, be fair and tell us about yours. Please?"  
"Alright, I'll tell you about my life." I sighed.

_"When I was a kid, my parents, Sycamore Lyle and Kimberly Edmenton, did everything for me. My father pushed me hard to make the most of my talents and strengths, but he loved me, so I accepted the rough training and studying. I had a loved childhood, and I got a lot out of my little life. But, when I was 8, it all changed._

"Mom and Dad, they… died in a car accident. We had no other family, so I taken from my home and placed in an orphanage, just on the outskirts of our hometown, Darlington. Spending the rest of my childhood there, I started to lull into a depression. Eventually, it got so bad I started to develop panic attacks. It almost killed me. When I was 12 years old, a bizarre incident occurred that only made it worse... I woke up miles away from my orphanage at the town Hospital, and a whole day had passed without my knowledge. Not only that, the orphanage no longer had any knowledge of my name, as if I was erased from their memories and accounts. And, even stranger, someone had enrolled me into a revolutionary new Campus-style Secondary School called The Commune, and this mystery person was footing the entire bill for it. I had been given a chance to mould myself a decent life. Knowing what I know now, I guess it makes sense. Like I was being groomed for this...

"Anyway, thanks to my Father's tutelage, I was already pretty bright, and, along with the street smarts I had gained with help from the other kids at the orphanage, I got on at the Commune well, gaining A qualifications in all of my Subjects. After the good times I had at the Commune, I decided to go into College education, so I attended an open evening in the Queen Elizabeth 6th Form College. Like I told you, I went to that 'place of evil' for two years, got my A levels there. That's why Gabe said we were linked through that place. Being back inside there made my skin crawl…

"During the visit, I must have sensed that lurking evil there, because, for the first time in a long time, I suffered a panic attack with so much suddenness and severity that I blacked out. Samantha Daniels, also a visitor to the college, revived me… Our Sam…

"She pretty much saved my life, so I stuck with her, trying to get to know her. Turned out we were into the same things. We clicked, became friends almost instantly. We chose the same courses after Bridging Week at the college, testing out all the lessons we were interested in taking. During the 2 year course, Sam really helped me with my panic attacks caused by the college, and we both got high grades, B's and A's. When I turned 21, we decided to form the AS Freelance Adventures Company, A for Alexis, S for Sam. Funded by Sam's Stepmother, Amanda Bentley, a silent partner in the team, we managed to gather hi-tech equipment and materials for my technical creativeness. This is the situation that gave birth to my baby, Persephone, which I have used for many different things over the past 2 years of our adventuring… Speaking of which… 

"Where is she?" I asked them. Sam laughed.  
"One track mind... Squall is looking after her. He kept it with him after the battle." she replied.  
"He was going to give it to us, but we decided we don't trust ourselves with it, after all, one button press could lead to an accidental amputation with that thing." Alice said. Pippa laughed dryly, looking at Sam. Smiling she looked back and hugged her.  
"You know... You never told me how you and he met." Pippa mentioned, returning the gesture. Sam blushed.  
"I never thought to... I mean, I know pretty much everything about him, I just don't share it, it's his business."  
I smiled. "The same can be said the other way around, don't forget that. I don't wanna have to tell people you're chequered past." I replied, a little menace and humor mixing in my voice.  
"Hehe, I can imagine... Well, since we still have time to kill, why don't you come clean before he can?" Alice replied, sitting up a little.   
"I... Nah, you don't wanna here mine..." the witch replied, blushing still.  
"Go on... I always get cheered up by the way you tell things." Pippa smiled weakly, shuffling closer.  
"Oh, okay... Since you asked nicely." She smiled a little.

**"When I was only a little nipper, 1 year old I was told, my parents, Harriet and Reggie, split up and got divorced; amicably with no drama apparently, but that doesn't sound like my family at all. I stayed with my Mom, who suddenly decided to become a lesbian, getting engaged to, as Alex mentioned, our partner-to-be Amanda Bentley, a rich businesswoman and widow, 6 years later. Against the odds of these strange circumstances, I actually led a normal, happy childhood. When I was 13, I made the decision to become a Spiritual Buddhist, a more sophisticated, soulful type of a gothic Pagan lifestyle. I do still consider myself a Wiccan, but labels are labels…**

"I was - still am, I guess - a very academic person, and I got pretty high grades in all the classes I attended. On the day of the Q.E. Open Evening, I noticed a lonely looking older kid, about 6 foot 5 inches, with shoulder length, almost ashen blonde hair, blue eyes and a few scars, wandering on his own, passing through all the rooms I was going to. We met again in the Main Hall of the college, where he suddenly had trouble breathing, and he collapsed. I managed to catch him before he hurt himself landing, and, as I had done a lot of times in the past thanks to one of my friend's suffering similarly severe attacks, I helped regulate his breathing and revive him. Turns out, his name was Alexis Edmenton. Our Alex… Not much has changed about him, except for his height and amount of scars. That lonely look, stacked at 6 foot 8, that lightest blonde hair, blue eyes now with contact lenses, and a few more scars to his collection…" 

There was a gentle knock on the door as Sam laughed. "Come in." Alice said. Leon walked through the door.

"Hey, Alex, This belongs to you, I believe." he said, throwing Persephone at me. I caught it on its end. "How's it going?" he asked.   
"Good. Where are Tidus and Jecht?" I asked.  
"They're talking to their old friends. Yuna and the guys are reminiscing; after all, it's been a long time since Sin showed his ugly mug around here to disrupt their lives, and they haven't had a get together since…" he replied, looking outside. I stood up and joined him.

They were all sat together around a fire.  
"… And then we took the food, and they were totally clueless!" Tidus shouted, laughing. The group laughed with him, and he looked up and noticed I was watching them. He waved me down. "Come and join us!" he said, still laughing. I shook my head.  
"It's alright, Tidus, I'd rather not get in the way." I said, smiling.  
"Suit yourself." He replied. Suddenly, Yuna hugged him around his shoulders.  
"I'm so glad you're back." She said, a little teary. Tidus quietly hugged her back, and the group watched on. After the moment they had, they carried on with getting up to speed on each other's lives, like true friends. I smiled to myself and turned to go back to my own friends.

Suddenly, I saw some kind of meteor fly overhead, and strange, glowing spheres with tails, sort of like mini-meteors, come up from the ground in it's wake. Yuna saw them to and stood up, guns at the ready. "Everyone!!!" she shouted, pointing up at that same black meteor. The other's followed our gaze and realized, with horror, what was coming their way.  
"NO!" Jecht shouted.  
"YU YEVON!" Tidus shouted.

I was stunned, my eyes widened and my grip tightened in reflex. "He's returned…" I said. Monsters of all shapes and sizes started to materialise from the glowing spheres. Aeons... "Guys, come on. We got trouble." I called to the others, readying the Battle Staff on Persephone.  
"You ready?" Leon asked me.  
"Hell yeah, let's split up. Leon, go help the others with Yu Yevon. Guys, we're going after the Aeons." I asked, smiling.  
Pippa smiled, cracking her knuckles. "So, the Infamous 5 are going to kick some spectral ass, right?" she asked.  
"Damn straight." Alice said as she pulled out the guns Yuna gave her from her waistband.   
"Let's do it." Sam said.


	13. Part 2:: Chapter 6: Yevon

I stood at the door of the hut, peeking around the corner to see where the Aeons were. As I stepped around the corner, the Aeon called Valefor, with its bright red feathers, flew overhead and fired a bright blue laser beam from its beak at the hut.  
"GET DOWN!" I shouted, diving into the hut and hiding beside the door. The others reacted quickly and narrowly ducked the beam that disintegrated the roof and most of the walls of the hut. I looked up to see if anyone was hurt, but they were all already on their feet and heading towards me.

"Guys, head to the ladder and get down from here. I'll take care of Valefor." I said, ready to move. The others nodded and prepared to sprint out of the hut. Giving the signal, I ran around the door of the hut and towards Valefor. It lowered its head to try and peck at me with its beak, but I jammed Persephone, still in its Battle Staff form, into one of the wooden planks of the walkway and used it as a pole vault, launching myself over Valefor's head. I twisted in mid-air and landed on Valefor's neck, mounting him like a horse. Quickly changing Persephone into decoupled Snake Sword mode, I whipped it around its broad neck, looping all the way around it, allowing me to catch it. The whipping caused Valefor to squeal loudly in pain. I looked down towards the ladder to see Leon just heading down the ladder, staying behind the girls who were already half way down to the ground.

I pulled back on Persephone, choking Valefor, making it scream and spasm wildly as it was trying to get me off its back. Planting my feet into the crook of its neck, I pulled harder, completely cutting off the airflow to the Aeon's head. Somewhere inside, I hoped Aeons needed air and I wasn't wasting my time, but I ignored it and carried on. Suddenly, the feathered spirit stopped screaming and started to fall to the ground, lifeless.

"Shit!" I shouted, retracting the Snake Sword and standing up. Rushing towards the ground, I dug my feet down into its flesh at the neck and leaped from it as it smashed into the floor with a thud. As soon as my feet touched the floor, I rolled forward to balance myself out and ended up bumping into Leon.  
"Damn..." I said, stumbling back a little. Leon just looked at me, silently. I looked back, and Leon sighed.  
"Come on, let's go." He said, slinging his Gunblade over his shoulder. By the time I looked back to Valefor, its body had already disappeared, with the Fayth spirit rising towards the sky.

"Right, where are those other Aeons?" Pippa asked as we walked along the path towards the others. Suddenly, a loud roar filled my ears and Ifrit leapt into the middle of us, the roaring fire that surrounded him forcing us to step backward.  
"You _had_ to ask…" Sam said, stepping back. Ifrit slammed his fist into the ground between Alice and I, causing us to stumble back. She bumped into something that felt weirdly tough and muscular, yet ghostly and ethereal at the same time.  
"Guys, what's behind me?" she stuttered, looking to us. I looked above her and stared in astonishment the split second I could before having to duck underneath a vicious slash from one of Ifrit's claws.

"I believe that was me, jah?" an almost Austrian accent came from above her. Alice managed to look up to see a muscled, almost human Aeon standing above her, wearing a rather bulky backpack. She could tell it was an aeon, because it was ghost-like, almost translucent. It grinned back.  
"Um… Hi. Who are you?" she asked, her hands playing with the pistols.  
"The name's Atrocities, girlie. Remember it, it's the last name you'll hear." it said, lifting something up from his side. It was a heavy looking chain gun. Alice's eyes widened and she slammed herself backwards into him, making them stumble back, away from the rest of us.  
"What was the purpose of that, girlie?" Atrocities growled, aiming the gun at her.  
"With a gun like that, you can do some major damage. The further from the others you are the better." She said, finally drawing her guns.  
"This is no ordinary gun, it's a Vulcan Mini-Gun, and it could rip you to shreds!" it said, laughing maniacally. Alice sighed and moved back a little.  
'_What the hell am I supposed to do against something __**like that**_?' she thought. The whirring of the gun interrupted her thought process.

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Leon had sprinted through the tunnel-like path of the forest that led to the opening of the camp where the others stood, face to face with Yu Yevon, who had adopted a corporeal form. As he reached the opening, he hit something solid that prevented his entry into the camp. He ran his hand across it.  
"Huh? A force-field?" he said, running his fingers across the barrier. It sent tingles through his hand that told him his hand was up against static electricity. It wasn't going to be easy to get through there, but he knew he had to find a way. He stepped back, raised his Gunblade over his head and swung it at the shield. Instead of contacting with the shield, as he expected, he hit steel. He looked at his blade to see another blade, a dagger, blocking the path of his Gunblade.  
"In spite of what happened to you, you still are sane. It is, truly, a _wonder_." A strange, muffled voice came from behind him. Leon swiftly parried the opponent's weapon up over his head and span around to meet his gaze.

The man who stared down Leon held his dagger in his right hand tossing it over to his left, and back. While he played his little sword game, he advanced on Leon, taking one step at a time, looming over him, making Leon realise the mysterious man was taller then him. Leon jumped back, now noticing all the features of this man.

His eyes - or whatever was there - were just white pupils. The fact that he had no eyelashes and only red marks above them gave Leon the distinct feeling that this spirit had gone through immense troubles and pains before he died, even more then Leon himself had suffered. His brown hair came down across over his face, and his clothing was old and worn, in a dark green hue, with a suspect bulge to the left of him. Leon observed that this was obviously a sword. While the man's arms were folded, there was something that glinted in the remaining sunlight.

"Who are you?" Leon asked, confused.  
"I'm Zeus. I'm not like the others, you know..." He said, staring at Leon. Leon stood his ground, since he only had a few feet between him and the barrier, staring back at the mysterious Aeon. Zeus stepped forward one more time, and Leon could see clearly he was holding a dagger embellished with many Jewels. "Admiring my weapon? It isn't the _greatest_ power I hold." Leon wondered how the man could've attacked him with such a small weapon and not had it destroyed by his Gunblade.   
"So, that is the one that gave him the scar. You could have done a better job with a _blunt object_." Zeus laughed, obviously indicating at Leon's weapon.  
"…" Leon went quiet. '_What the hell? Since when did Aeons have a sense of humor, even if it is a crap one? Come to think of it, how does he know about Sefier_?' he thought to himself. Zeus' expression changed to one of a game face. He was ready to battle, and Leon saw in how he carried himself that he was more then competent with his dagger. Leon readied himself for battle.

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Ifrit was swinging punches wildly, which we were easily avoiding. Pippa was attempting to tire it out with taunts to attack her, while constantly moving away from the attacks. Sam was preparing a Blizzard spell, and I was blocking attacks with the Battle Staff-type Persephone.  
"Okay guys, _now_ would be a good time to finish this." I said, leaping onto the fire beast's shoulder straight after blocking an attack. I jumped off as it tried to attack me, kicking it in the back of the head and rolling to the side as Sam finished the spell and fired a hard ball of ice into Ifrit's chest, knocking it hard into a tree. He began to spark with the colored light balls of the Aeon spirit, and its body disappeared.  
"_Alright_, that's another one down. But these are the easy ones, let's not get cocky." I said, looking across to the others.

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Alice ran behind the nearest tree as the bullets spat out of the Vulcan mini-gun Atrocities was aiming at her. Bark and sap was flying everywhere as she held the guns to her chest and tried to collect her thoughts. Atrocities laughed maniacally again, and Alice took a deep sigh.  
"I have no choice. I'll have to go toe-to-toe with this maniac, but _how_ am I supposed to avoid the gun ripping me to shreds?" she said to herself, shuffling her feet. She tried to think, but the tree was beginning to buckle under the stress of the shots raining into it. "Ah, _here goes nothing_!" She shouted, putting her elbow into the side of the tree as leverage. Screaming, she sprang out of the cover and started shooting back. The bullets were connecting with flesh, but Atrocities wasn't even reacting. It began to trace her path with the Gun, bullets tearing into the grass under their feet and flinging mud into the air like a dog digging up bones. Alice rolled behind another tree in desperation, trying to avoid the bullets.  
"I _can't believe_ he didn't even flinch!" she grumbled loudly, screaming inside. Breathing heavily, she knew if she kept trying to shoot and hide, she would get caught out and seriously hurt. The agent growled to herself, poking her head around the corner; she saw Atrocities heading towards her, the gun no longer whirring or spitting bullets.  
"Come on, girlie. You know it's futile to fight me. Come out and face an honorable death instead of hiding like a coward," it laughed. Alice grunted to herself and took a deep breath.  
'_What the heck am I supposed to do?!?_' she thought.

"I'll give you a head start! I won't press mah trigger until I see yah!" it laughed again. His comment sparked an idea in Alice's head.  
'_Of course, that's it! His gun takes time to start shooting; the chambers take time to warm up so he can get a decent rate of fire. If I can get to him before it warms up, I can try to disarm him before he even gets a shot off!_' she laughed quietly as she thought. She tucked the guns in her waistband and got ready to move when Atrocities got close enough.  
"Come on, there's no use delaying the inevitable. Just come out!" it shouted, still approaching her.  
'_Not yet, not yet…_' she continued, listening attentively, focused. There was a loud crunch close to Alice, which caused her to jump a little.  
"It was just a twig. Heh…" Atrocities said. Alice realised the maniac gunslinger was close enough for the attack and opened her eyes widely.  
"NOW!" She shouted, running towards the aeon.  
"What?!?" Atrocities shouted, raising his weapon. Swiftly, Alice jumped onto the barrel of the gun, took two steps across it, balancing perfectly, before placing a kick into its cheek and back flipping off the gun. In mid-air, she grabbed the guns out of her waistband and shot at the backpack that was obviously feeding the bullets into his gun. Just as Alice expected, it exploded, causing shrapnel to embed itself into Atrocities back and render the gun useless. It screamed in agony as the remains of the backpack slipped off its shoulders and it dropped the gun. It turned and looked at Alice with a fire in his eyes.  
"That's it, it's time to stop playing and kill you with my _bare hands_." it said, moving towards her. Alice stepped back, aiming the guns at its head and shooting. The bullets were scratching at the skin, but it wasn't stopping it. Alice started to cry, still shooting. She was backed up against a wall. Atrocities grinned maniacally. He started to close in on her…

He only stopped when he felt the cold steel of the Scythe-type Persephone blade across his neck.  
"Touch her, and it'll be the biggest mistake you'll _ever_ make." I said to him, a foot placed on his back.

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Leon lunged at Zeus, swinging madly, trying to knock him off his feet. Zeus ducked under the swings of the Gunblade and thrusted his dagger up, forcing Leon to lean back, and bring his Gunblade horizontally across his own body to parry any stabbing motion of Zeus, who then dropped to the ground, but while doing so, kicked Leon at his legs to trip him. Surprisingly, the Gunblade swung down in his direction as Leon fell, as Zeus knew he would, for he saw his knee buckle…it was a shame he couldn't kick it out of his socket with a second blow. Leon quickly got up, only to see a lunging Zeus with a dagger, high above his head, coming down with a killing blow. Quickly, with speed but not haste, Leon managed to grab hold of his weapon and forced his body forward at an awkward angle, pushing himself into the path of Zeus and plunging his blade into his opponent's gut while avoiding the attack from the dagger, which was thrown aside in the impact.

Zeus's clothing tore and Leon was sure the fight was over, but he suddenly realized that there was no impact from the attack. There was nothing where his blade had forced itself... Soon, Leon could see just why when the clothing fell away; the stomach was a hollow, empty shell, and the Gunblade simply nestled between a few broken, ragged bones that had remained. Zeus grinned, knowing that Leon was shocked from seeing the horrid sight. As if he was in ecstasy, Zeus writhed against Leon and smirked as, from out of nowhere, he drew a sword from under what clothes he had remaining, nicking Leon's chin with the sharp tip, causing him to leap backward. Zeus calmly took a step forward, letting the remainders of those clothes hang where they were. His muscles in his arms tensed up, and he gripped the new sword; it had a golden drawing etched into its broad side, obviously a rose...This weapon would be more than competent competition with Leon's. However, before the battle could begin, Leon remembered something he wished he forgotten long ago…

"Is it his handiwork?" he asked, confused and seemingly fearful.  
Zeus relaxed, his shoulders widened, and he stood tall and full. Leon was only at mouth level of the giant that stood over him, causing Leon to hunch backward defensively.  
"What do you mean? The sword?" Zeus grinned.  
Leon shook his head in annoyance, gripping his blade harder than before.  
"_The stomach._" He said plainly.  
Zeus replied calmly "Why do you ask what you must already know?"  
"Was it to do with him? Has he _come back_?"  
"What if he has? You would only think that he would team up with the Dark Walker… In fact, why don't you think of it! Think of the power that they would hold in an _alliance_!"   
Leon simply stared at Zeus, stunned. "So he _is_ back." He managed to stutter. Zeus sighed and shook his head.  
"Not possible. He did this many, _many_ decades ago… Besides, I don't really need to know, this feels good once you get used to it…" Zeus laughed. Suddenly, he proceeded to charge at Leon. Fortunately, Leon was more then ready for him.

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"You're lucky the chosen one made it in time to save you. You won't be so lucky when the Dark Walker has his way." Atrocities told Alice.   
"What do you know about that?" she asked, looking at me then it.  
"Only that your friend with the weapon at my neck is someone the Dark Walker doesn't want around. After all, he let us free just to take you all down." He said. I put a little more pressure on his back, causing the blade to cut a little into his throat.  
"I don't need to hear any more tales from you. If the Dark Walker wants me dead, he's going to have to do it himself. His lackey's aren't good enough." I said, ready to kill him. It laughed.  
"We're only a first course. The best is yet to come. You have yet to meet the Greatest Aeon ever created. Not that I will let you get there." It replied. Out of nowhere, Atrocities produced a Shotgun like weapon into its hands and knocked Persephone to the side, before pointing it at me. I was directly in the line of fire.   
"_Shit_." I managed to utter. Atrocities grinned manically.  
"Nowhere to go, pretty boy... What now, huh?" it said, beginning to squeeze the trigger gently.  
"Alex!" Alice shouted.  
Just as he squeezed the trigger, a blue bolt fired into the side of the gun, veering it off course and shooting a tree behind me with spirit-like pellets. Sam was standing along the way, looking like she was on a comedown from another spell. I instantly realised she must have been the one who caused the bolt. I nodded at her, smiling, and I looked back at Atrocities, who was still reeling. I managed to leap at him with the scythe at his neck, my back to him and one foot in his back.  
"You're terminated, bub." I said, planting my foot in harder. I pulled Persephone back, and its head came off, spreading a large amount of the aeon spirit orbs. The body disappeared first, and the vacant expression of the head disappeared, along with the head, soon after. Alice ran over and hugged me, kissing me on the cheek, as Sam ran to us and hugged me too.  
"You saved me, thank you." Alice said, laughing happily.  
"No problem, but we still have things to finish. Let's get on with it. And, thanks Sam, I owe you." I replied.  
"I'll put it in the stack of I.O.U.'s you already have with my name on." She laughed.

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Leon struck at Zeus first, but the attack was parried by Zeus's broadsword. Leon quickly came back for a counter attack, and the bizarre aeon once again parried and unleashed a barrage of attacks upon his opponent. While he was able to block and parry most of the attacks, Leon realized he was bleeding at his side and obviously badly cut from an attack he never even saw coming. Ducking under another swipe of the broadsword, he rammed his body into Zeus; the hilt of his own blade hitting his stomach area… only Leon had forgot Zeus didn't have any stomach, so it simply pushed them both backward. Leon, however, lost his sense of balance, and his hand fanned the air wildly, trying to grab onto something to ease his fall. Finally getting something, he stopped himself. When he lifted his head, he could see that he was holding onto Zeus's loose ribcage. The warrior, who staggered back in a mixture of rage and astonishment as he was manhandled in such a way, saw his opportunity and came down with a swipe with superb preciseness in order to sever Leon's arm.

Fortunately, Fate was on Leon's side, for he pulled his arm back quickly enough to avoid it, and gripped his sword. The swipe of Zeus's blade hit the earthen floor, and he lifted it back up to block a series of counter attacks.  
"Now it's _my_ turn." Leon said, grunting heavily before launching into a Renzokuken combination attack, his body moving with such swiftness that he was almost invisible to the naked eye. Zeus leaned far back, deflecting the attacks he could and adding his own in, catching Leon by surprise as the blade caused a gashing wound in his side, causing him to scream. Seeing red, Leon changed how he held the Gunblade, not by the handle but by the very bottom of the blade, shortening it some distance. Zeus, unprepared for this surprising change in technique, was sideswiped by Leon's blade, the remains of what was his ribcage sliced open. Leon played on his advantage, thrusting forward in a stabbing motion that forced Zeus to jump back, only a few feet away from the barrier. Leon smiled, having gained the better ground and turned the tables on Zeus, boxing him into the wall with no means of escape.

Zeus used the remains of his cloak to tie around his waist and stomach to cover the wound. Leon felt a little disturbed by the sight, so immediately went back into action, running at him with full force. Zeus noticed and attempted to attack him, but Leon anticipated it and ducked the attack, simultaneously dropping his Gunblade in the grass.

Not phased by his lack of a weapon, Leon improvised, grabbing at Zeus's wrist and, with his other arm, swung downward forcefully at it, which broke Zeus' hand, thus forcing the aeon's weapon to clutter to the ground. Disadvantaged at the position he was in, Zeus could only grab Leon's hair, though he pulled it back hard, making both men shout out in their pain. Leon struck upward with an open hand at Zeus's face and, apparently, he broke the Aeon's nose.

Angered, and in pain, Zeus, still grasping Leon's hair, proceeded to grab the back of the Gunblader's neck and right hand, pivoting on his back foot to twirl round Leon and used the momentum to slam his face straight into the barrier. Letting go of his head, Zeus balled his hand into a fist and proceeding to punch at the back of Leon's head. The Gunblader's head was jarred forward from the blow, and once again his head hit the barrier. Leon smarted, but got his bearings back quick enough to duck Zeus's next hook, pushing his weight into Zeus' legs and making him turn to the side slightly. Taking his chance, he got up and pressed against Zeus again, making his side slam into the barrier. Shifting back slightly, Leon repeated the action. Zeus, dazed by the shocking impact with the shield, took three more shoves from Leon into the barrier before he released his grip entirely.

A sharp popping noise was heard as Zeus's wrist healed back in its place. Leon halted in his attack to look for his weapon, but only found the broadsword, picking it up.  
"Shit…" Zeus mumbled, looking for a weapon himself. He saw that Leon's Gunblade was shining in the grass, and sluggishly picked it up. Despite both their conditions, Leon knew that he wouldn't last against the man. His time was up; he couldn't fight anymore. Zeus began to stalk Leon, but looked at Leon's weapon, and stopped. He threw the Gunblade at Leon's feet, to his surprise. Leon had the upper hand just by holding the broadsword, but why...?

"Give me my sword, this fight is over. _I give up_." Zeus spoke. Leon, reluctant, circled his opponent.  
"_What the hell_?" Leon asked aloud. Zeus' sword began to glow, rapidly changing colors, which distracted the Gunblader.  
"I made a promise to someone, a long time ago. I would never let another person touch that blade. I failed her..." he said, his voice slightly bitter.  
"What kind...?" Leon started to ask.  
"It's not your place to know. Stay out of it and give me the blade. I swear to you that I will not betray my word. I am a man of honor."

Finally, Leon sighed, throwing the blade to Zeus' feet. "Sorry I made you break your promise."  
"Don't bother... I will not return here. When my brother looks for me, tell him I've gone to fix my mistake. Both he and you will understand when the time comes. Know this, though; you are a great warrior, one of the best I have had the pleasure to meet. But you're not _the_ best. Not by a _long shot_." Zeus laughed as the changing colors rapidly increased speed, making the weapon glow.  
"_You arrogant son of a_…" Leon said, as he ran at Zeus to attack him. But, when he sliced at his opponent's position, the aeon was gone in a burst of spirit orbs. As it turns out Leon would've missed him anyway…

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We gathered at the static shield blocking the path to the others at the Campsite. Leon attacked the shield, which caused a tear in the shield, which quickly repaired itself before we could get through. Wordlessly, he just stared at shield.  
"Not working, huh?" I asked.  
"…" He didn't reply. I nodded.  
"Yup, thought so. What now?" I asked. Leon just shrugged.  
"I could try a spell to force it open." Sam said.  
"Do you know one? We don't have the spell book anymore, remember?"  
"Look, I only used one a few days ago, the one I used at the college. It should work on this too." She replied, already preparing it.  
"Well, we don't have any other options, do we?" I asked, directing it at Leon.  
"Whatever." He replied, stepping out of the way. I followed as Sam blasted the shield with the spell. As she thought, the shield went down and we rushed into the campsite, but Yu Yevon blocked our way.

"So, you finally arrived, huh?" he said, in a voice similar to Tidus'. In fact, he looked a lot like Tidus, though wearing different clothes.  
"Shuyin…" I said to myself.  
"You're familiar with my host body, I see… Well, it makes it all the more fitting." He said, raising his weapon at me.  
"Alexis, _look out_!" Yuna shouted, as Shuyin-Yevon ran at me. In a single movement I leapt over him as the others simply dodged to one side. Quickly we joined the others at the edge of the camp. Some, though not all, of them were looking tired from the battle, while Shuyin-Yevon was looking fresh, as if he wasn't even fighting.  
"Are you guys okay?" Alice asked, putting a hand on Wakka's shoulder as she looked at a small cut on his temple.  
"We'll live, ja?" Wakka said, the cut causing him to squint sharply.  
"Kimahri agree. Need to stop Yevon, nothing stand in our way, not even injury." Kimahri said, standing in front of Yuna protectively.  
"What about you? Have the Aeons caused you guys any problems?" Lulu asked.  
"No, they were a piece of cake, _which worries me_." Pippa said, at my side.  
"Apparently, there's another we've yet to meet, if the aeon was to be believed." Sam said.  
"Wait, the aeons talked?" Jecht asked.  
"Well, 2 of them did." I replied nonchalantly.  
"You're kidding!" Rikku shouted, looking at us strangely, talking in her native tongue of Al Bhed. Of course, with no knowledge of the language, the outsiders in the group – including myself - looked at her blankly in silence, until Leon finally broke it.  
"What did she say?" he asked.  
"I don't think she believes you." Yuna said, not taking her eyes or guns away from being trained on Shuyin-Yevon, who was approaching us again. He stopped suddenly, closing his eyes. He was nodding and shaking his head at regular intervals, almost replying to something.  
"What the hell is he doing?"

"Hmmm… Seems we are not the finish this battle here. I guess I'll meet you in our home, Tidus." He smiled. Tidus stepped forward.  
"What!" he shouted. Shuyin-Yevon laughed maniacally as a portal ripped open behind him.  
"What the hell do you mean?" Rikku said, stepping to his side.  
"We're going to see the neon-lights of the old city! I've so longed to see our home again!" he said, looking Tidus in the eyes. Yuna wrestled past Kimahri and stood next to Tidus. She began to say something, but I had zoned out; my vision became blurry, and a huge pain began to rip through my temples. I felt my knees buckle underneath me, and I passed out.

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When I eyes opened again, I was engulfed in a bright light. Everything seemed to flow and merge in a blur.  
"There's no way you can do that." I heard Yuna's voice echo in the light.  
"Just watch." Shuyin-Yevon's echo swiftly followed.  
I looked down at myself as I got to my feet, and noticed I had a rolled up piece of paper in my hand.  
"...Huh?" I thought to myself. I would have said it, but my voice had suddenly vanished. "What the… I've gone mute… This is a _weird_ turn of events."

I finally opened the paper out and began to read it.

'So, you've finally come for me. I'm afraid to say that fate has already taken me away long ago, before your time came. I will never have gone down without a fight, but that is only a small comfort. If curiosity is nagging at you, allow me to tell you a long tale, from this old man's lengthy experience in life. It's a tale about corruption and power. There is a definite difference, though both came from one point of origin, one point of being but from multiple places. Corrupt… Power… Two things that can be thought of the same but are very different. Power corrupts, and corrupted power can corrupt others. The concept of corruption is power; power malnourished and left unfettered, no definite state of being of power, no central power, unbalanced. Corruption is a balance, but an imbalance also. Power is one thing, but corruption is another. Corruption spawned from the mere fact of strength over another. Corruption spawned from the sickening horrors of death, and living, of horrible living, and horrible death. Corruption formed by the prospects for advantages over already disadvantaged people. Corruption, the all-consuming power, has a balance within itself. It is a heart, any heart. Corruption is a heart so beautiful, so willing to give and take whenever possible; to corrupt, to give power and to use it, in a sense, but power fights back.

'Power, spawned from the mere thought of alliances and pacts, of friendships, and weapons, is something that was meant to fight corruption. Corrupt people, however, have dissected power, and divided it. In giving the sole true power to so few people, so many other people have been given more, corrupted power, and the power to corrupt. The tears from power, to be giving in some cases, to rally for a cause that seems justified enough; to have an intent, that my friends, is war. That my friends, is killing, that my friends is deception. That is mutual power and funds. That feeds corruption. Things get changed and changed things once again change, therefore being in the state of ever-changing, to adjust to those with the sacred power, that fight back corrupted power, and power corrupt. Hearts come from corruption; lives come from the bond of two. But life brings corruption. Corruption and the heart.'

"For _the love of god_, this guy rambles on about such useless things... Power, corruption and hearts don't mix as a subject…" I mused to myself, before coming to a quick, spine-tingling conclusion. "_Unless_… There's _no way_ he could of… Is there?" I thought, carrying on.

'An amazing concept, corruption and power, power and corruption, I basked in the mere thought of power corrupt. Heart and corruption bonded, and furthermore creating a new entity: The Heartless. The Heartless were well beyond the borders of corruption's control, and were left untamed, but tame enough to not strike back at its creator. In fact, it carried it on its shoulders, and tapped its energy, and it grew stronger in more numbers. They are here, and they are looking for power. They are ready to corrupt, for their power. But will they be corrupted? Will they be overcome?

'Of course, there was something standing in their way. The Keyblades, created for the sole purpose of destroying corruption, to leave it dead in its traces, and bind it into a story, to tell of a past that was righted, and a future that can be wronged, if led in the wrong hands. The Keyblades, so beautiful a sound that word is! They are our sole saviours, and one has chosen me. We will fight corruption. If destiny has followed its true course, then I know who you are. You are corrupt, my friend, and I shall fight you and free you from corruption. I take my leave, and anyone who wishes to stop me, I shall unleash power fashioned in the way that you shall not want to see. It will be the end of you, and I am only beginning. I will look for the source, defy the source, and kill its children, and render the source weak, for the source has ultimate power, and that source is corrupt. I will find that source. I will kill it. Even through death, I will come for you.  
Loki.'

"Holy crap... So this Loki guy was not only a wielder but came across those vile Heartless before? He seems like a _total nutter_ to me, but to lie in such a raw letter just _doesn't make sense_... And, what does he mean by that whole '_I know who you are_' thing...? That just freaks me out…" I thought, screwing up the piece of paper and lobbing it away from me. Suddenly, my head was struck by a terrible agony worse then I had felt before, and my legs went wobbly again.

"_What… the… hell… is… happening_?" I managed to stutter out loud, before I collapsed again.

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When I came to, Sam was tapping my cheek, trying to revive me. When I opened my eyes, bright lights shone into my eyes, which caused me an immense amount of discomfort.  
"Damn that hurt." I stammered.  
"Hey, what happened?" she asked, smiling softly in that way she did.  
"I… I just blacked out." I replied.  
"Are you sure?"  
"As sure as I can be these days; too many weird things are happening to me. So, what's with the lights? Where are we?" I said, slowly opening my eyes again.

The landscape had changed. We were in a city with tall skyscrapers and neon lights, like Shuyin-Yevon had mentioned. Billboards and huge building screens filled the skyline. It took me a few minutes to realize where we had arrived.  
"Wow, how did he manage this?" I asked Sam.  
"We're not exactly sure. The others are trying to see if this place is as real as it seems." She replied. I shook my head.  
"No doubt about it. We're here. We're in _Zanarkand_." I said, standing up.


	14. Part 2:: Chapter 7: Zanarkand

I looked around my surroundings. It definitely looked like the old Zanarkand the Fayth knew, but it didn't feel like it. It felt… _hollow_. So, if Shuyin-Yevon didn't send us back in time, what exactly _did_ he do?

Leon, Pippa, Alice and Sam were close by, seemingly wondering the same thing as I was. Scanning my surroundings again, I found that everyone was ahead of us, walking along the highway we landed on.

"Should we join the others?" I asked, cricking my neck.

"I just wanna lie down and sleep… These 2 weeks has felt _so_ long…" Pippa sighed.

"I know what you mean, hun. I swear we'd been here a month by now." Sam said, sitting down. As she sat, I noticed Leon was focused, shutting out everything, zoning out to wherever he goes when he gets like that.

"So, what, we're just gonna sit here and let the others wander into whatever we're here for? Isn't that exactly what we _don't_ wanna do?" Alice asked. I shook my head, but, before I could speak, Leon piped up.

"We need to keep with the others, no matter what. Since they are heading that way, that's where we are going." He said, walking off. The others looked to me, so I shrugged and ran after him.

"Hold up, yo. Let's go together." I said. The others giggled, slowly following. I glanced at them, realising instantly what I'd said, smiling a little. "We'll discuss the irony of that statement later." I replied. We set off to catch up with the Spirans.

After what seemed like hours worth of walking, we approached the Stadium.

"Wow… That's even bigger then Luca, ja?" Wakka said, in awe.

"When I was in the dreams of the Fayth, I used to play here… It hasn't changed. It's been preserved to the state it seemed to be before Sin invaded." Tidus replied.

"Hell to that my boy, this was how it looked when_ I_ was a legend of the Arena!" Jecht laughed.

"Then, the question to ask is, why are we here?" Lula asked. Yuna played with the handles of her pistols tensely, gritting her teeth.

"Yunie, what's wrong?" Rikku asked, noticing her cousin's strange stance.

"I can sense him… Yevon is in the stadium." she said, anger coursing in her voice.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get in…" I began, approaching the entrance. Suddenly, the ground began to violently shake.

"Oh hell…" Leon said, as the others struggled to keep their footing.

The ground began to rise up beneath us, sending us skyward.

"What the fuck?" Sam said, trying to steady herself with a spell.

"Guys, this is what Sin caused when he took Tidus… I think Yevon is causing everything to happen again somehow." Pippa said, kneeling down to help her balance. The road split into pieces, separating the road and splitting us up into four groups. When the road finally stopped rising, we had a perfect view of the inside of the stadium. In the centre, Shuyin-Yevon stood.

"Welcome to Zanarkand, friends, new and old." he said.

I peered down towards Shuyin-Yevon, whose face I could barely make out at this height, but still could have sworn he was grinning. On my platform, I was pretty much lying down next to Jecht, whom was kneeling down and breathing heavily, and Tidus was just behind us, leaning on his Caladbolg sword. I was about to ask if Jecht was okay when he began to grip his heart area, as if something was taking hold of it from inside his chest.

"Damn you! Damn you, Yevon!" Jecht bellowed as he fell over, as if some paralysis had come over him. I crawled over toward him, assisting him in getting into a better position. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was definitely something… ghostly about how touching Jecht felt right now. Suddenly, the platform that we three were on started to groan. I motioned to Tidus, who stood up and helped his father up, his body leaning on Tidus' yellow clothing.

"We've got to get off this platform; its not gonna be a nice fall if we're still on this piece of rock." Tidus shouted, pointing to a bigger platform. I nodded in agreement.

"It's a big gap…" I responded, assuring Tidus I appreciated the idea. "I'll go first. After that, I'll use Persephone to drag you closer… I hope." I continued, ready to go.

As I jumped to the platform, Shuyin-Yevon started addressing us again.

"Are you enjoying Spira, Alexis? It's been said, many times, that this world is a spiral of death. The spiral never goes low or high. A perfect circle drenched in crimson. Equal." He said, with a gleaming sense of pride in his voice. I landed with a thud, cracking my knee on the platform, causing a small groan to escape my lips. I carefully stood up, shaking off the pain, and looked around to get a position on the others. Over my shoulder, I could see Pippa save Sam in the nick of time, grabbing onto her hand when she was about to lose her grip of their tiny platform after narrowly missing her jump. Leon and Kimahri were further ahead, as Kimahri was using his immense strength to leap from platform to platform, and was carrying Leon on his back. Kimahri was also carefully watching Yuna, who, with Rikku, were making their own way down to the platform. As far as I could tell, Lulu and Wakka were behind us.

I looked back to the platform I leapt from and saw Jecht standing on his own legs, wobbling a bit. Tidus whistled towards me, waving for me to do whatever I had planned to do.

"You okay, Jecht?" I asked as I took out Persephone.

"Yeah, but Yevon used some kinda trick to weaken me… He has a hold on us because of what we are, once one with the Fayth. Please, keep an eye on what we do, okay?" Jecht replied, as I activated the Snake Sword on Persephone, holding the decoupler, and swung it like a lasso towards the platform. It managed to impale itself into it, as I hoped, and I pulled Persephone as hard as I could. Slowly, the platform began to defy its gravitational state, moving closer to the platform I stood on. Quickly, they dropped down to join me, as I let the Snake Sword go back to its connected state, putting it down my back as to sheathe it. The platforms were closer together from here, so we began to descend quickly.

Shuyin-Yevon began to speak again, pointing to Yuna. "You, summoner, are a clear example of this spiral; at least, a physical sample…"

"Physical?" Jecht questioned, stopping in his tracks. I turned to signal Jecht to carry on, but he was more focused on Yevon. As I turned back, everyone except me, Tidus and Jecht had assembled on the wider, larger platform at the bottom of the collection, facing Yevon opposite, who himself was standing on the flat ground of the Stadium.

"Yes, a Physical example. This was our last summoner, the last person who drew off the power from the Fayth."

Tidus jumped past me, and reached the platform that everyone else was stood on. I quickly joined, followed by Lulu, Wakka, and finally Jecht.

"You said it yourself, I was the last Summoner; I ended the spiral of death." Yuna said, staring right into Shuyin-Yevon's eyes.

"Only it was just temporary, wasn't it? After all, Vegnagun brought back so much to you, and now I have been revived… The Spiral of Spira never will end!" he shouted.

I growled, realising instantly why Yevon had returned. '_Oh, god, that's what the dream was trying to tell me... __**Gabriel**__... Why can't he fight his own battles?!_' I thought, tensing my muscles.

"I swear to god, I will kill you! I will end this spiral!" Tidus shouted, gripping Caladbolg tightly and stepping towards the end of the platform.

Shuyin merely laughed, shrugging off the thought. "You cannot. I still have something to explain to him." – He suddenly pointed at me, which took me by surprise, making me step back a little – "And he needs to know this, so it would be fool-hardy to take a strike at me. Put away the weapon." He continued.

Pippa and Sam signalled to me to move onto Shuyin-Yevon's larger platform. I nodded, and we quickly pressed onwards, quickly followed by Wakka and Kimahri. Shuyin-Yevon stepped backwards from the group.

"Dream or not, we live together in this world, and we're stronger for it, too, ja?" Wakka spoke, crushing his Blitzball in his palms. Kimahri flexed his muscles into a coiled spring-like tightness as he held his spear so it was pointing threateningly towards Shuyin-Yevon.

"Is this supposed to terrify me, fur ball? It would be wiser of the proud Ronso if he was to drop it." Yevon stared down the bar of the spear.

"Ronso don't take orders. Only serve to their own fulfilment." He growled, still pointing his weapon. The others began to join us on the platform, which was on the flat ground, compared to the heights of the other platforms. Just beyond him, slightly shrouded in darkness, I noticed a platform very similar to ones in the Chambers of the Fayth bridging the Blitzball Stadium Game area. I heard the distinct sound of Pippa cracking her knuckles. I saw Alice take her pistols out of her side holster from the corner of my eye. Wherever this was about to go, it reached the point of no return.

"This world, this realm, it isn't very different from places like the ones in your world, am I right?" Shuyin-Yevon said, as he faced me. I saw eye to eye with him… There were no blurs, no sprites, no CGI. This was real. I was on a platform with a man, spirit, whatever he might be; a being that has been around for God-knows how long. It was weird, but infuriating at the same time, how such a higher power can be so evil... I was about to respond when I was pushed aside momentarily.

"I've heard enough! We can live! We have the chance! We don't want dreams, we don't want images; we want _reality_!" Lulu pled, standing beside me now, staring at the ancient being. Shuyin laughed, looking back at her.

"Those are such noble words, coming from such an _atrocious whore_ as you."

"How dare you!" she shouted, gasping as she readied her moogle attack doll.

"You really have nothing to say in your defence, do you? Your lineage, one of the last true Guardians of the Summoner; looking at you now is disgusting. Your ethics, assisting in the fight against Sin; you fought to fill a void in. And now with no other supplement, having survived what should have been your last battle; you substituted the fighting for something calmer, and irrelevant to your lineage."

I looked towards Lulu, as Yuna put her hand on her shoulder.

'_He's referring to Wakka… That was a bitch move, even for someone as evil as Yevon…_' I thought.

"…And, even more disgusting, you had a child. You disgraced everything you were brought up to be." Shuyin-Yevon patiently stated.

Wakka gripped the Blitzball tighter. I could see his knuckles were becoming white. Beads of sweat could be seen dropping down his forehead, to the ground, as is face turned an angry shade of red.

"It doesn't matter what she was! We're happy now, and that's all that matters!" he shouted.

Shuyin-Yevon laughed, which made me turn back towards him. "You really believe that? Then, I must give you my condolences, in the worst form."

I felt a gust of wind heading towards my ear, which caused me to instinctively dodge to the side. A Blitzball blasted past me and was throttled towards Wakka's tormentor. Shuyin-Yevon saw the attack, and simply caught the ball, narrowly stopping it at his head.

"Nice shot." Shuyin grinned, tossing the ball into the air multiple times. "You know, I always did have a certain appreciation for the sport. The one thing I didn't create that didn't go horribly wrong." He said gleefully, before throwing the ball high in the air, leaping as it came back down and kicking it directly at us. It screamed into the ankle of Leon, as everyone else in it's path had the reactions to step out of the way in time.

"Shit!" he said, hopping slightly.

"You have a sad, vain self-obsession, Yevon!" Wakka screamed in despair, helpless to stop Yevon doing what he pleased, including insulting his wife's integrity. I took a step towards the man who was once heralded as a god, Pippa and Alice flanking me, and Leon, with a slight limp, following behind. Sam stayed back, holding Lulu's hand, whispering something in her ear and trying to comfort her. Before Shuyin could continue his tirades, I decided to speak up.

"Yevon, this ends now. You can't run. You stand and face us. All of us." I said, standing confidently parallel to the being known as Yu Yevon.

And I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the cocking of guns and the clang of metal being drawn out of a sheath. Kimahri growled and Yuna aimed her weapons at Shuyin, both joining my side. Despite us encircling Shuyin, he retained his stone cold face, waiting for the first attack. .

"Kimahri finish this now!" Kimahri bellowed, suddenly jumping forward to attack. I think we were all taken by surprise, because all we could do was watch the Ronso, high up in the air, spear aimed low, as he started to descend towards his prey. I looked at Shuyin-Yevon, prepared to head into the battle…

Then he appeared.

We were all flung back with tremendous force, our bodies almost flying off the edge of the platform. The mighty Ronso scream sounded once again, but a different tone, one of pain. Once we reassembled ourselves on firm ground again, we saw Kimahri kneeling on the ground, his face wrought with pain, growling and breathing heavily. He clutched at his side, shivering, and his eyes squeezed shut tight. His weapon, that 9-foot spear, was snapped in multiple places, its parts strewn about the arena-shaped ground. The man towering over the fallen Ronso had his arms crossed. I couldn't see any physical features since he seemed to be covered by some metallic like skin. The "skin" seemed reminiscent of the sheen of Dural from a fighting game I played a lot at my home. Or even Metal Mario from some of my older games.

'_Man, do I wish I was back at home…_' I thought, gripping Persephone tightly, bringing it out of my t-shirt.

Shuyin-Yevon leaned his shoulder on the man, who was obviously a tall person, but no bigger than a normal Ronso.

"This is the final Aeon, the new, definitive final Aeon. He wields incredible power, incomparable to anything you know. His name is _Loki_." Shuyin told us, his cold gaze cutting towards a speechless Yuna, who was obviously astounded at the newest Aeon.

I spoke before anyone else could, my voice making the silence end in an ominous sound, resembling a squelch.

"So, you were the one in my dream?" I said, looking at him. Yevon shot the Aeon and myself alternating questioning looks. Loki made no attempt to reply, but I felt his eyes on me. "You not gonna say anything? I mean you had plenty to say on that piece of paper…" I carried on, moving closer.

"Hold it, Alex. I don't like this." Sam said, putting an arm out towards me.

"Trust me, Sam. I know what I'm doing." I replied, moving further forward. Loki made his first move, closer to me.

"What the hell are you doing?" Yevon said, aimed at Loki. He carried on silently, until we met in the middle of the platform.

"I'm starting to realise you're very much the strong and silent type. So how about we cut the chatter and get down to what we're here to do, huh?" I said to him, lining up the blade of S.S.P. with my arm. Loki nodded, seemingly grinning at me. I grinned back. "Okay then, who's gonna make the first…" I started to say, before I was interrupted by Loki, with a sword that seemed to just materialise into his hand much like a Keyblade, yet looked totally different to one, with a sheen similar to Loki's metallic-like skin. Swiftly, I brought my arm up to block the attack with Persephone, punched him in the kidneys and rolled out to the side. It took me a few seconds to register that the punch really hurt me more then it would have him.

"Ow, that really felt like metal!" I said, shaking my right hand in pain. Loki turned to face me, gripping his weapon tighter.

"Oh, so that's how it is…" Alice said, taking a step forward. A furred hand blocked her path, as Kimahri stumbled into the watching crowd.

"Don't interfere… Loki… Too strong…" he said, his face contorted in pain with his other hand clutching his side tightly. He collapsed into Alice's arms, and she quickly laid him on the floor to rest.

"Kimahri, friend, it's gonna be okay." Tidus said, making his way to him.

I kept my eye on Loki, watching him for any sudden movements, swapping weapon hands and swinging Persephone at my side with my right hand.

"Loki, tear him apart." Yevon said. Compliant, Loki ran forward at me.

"Oh hell…" I said, clenching my fist. I managed to duck under the first swipe, the blade narrowly missing my scalp. As the blade returned towards me, I put my blade up and locked it against his, bringing us side by side. As we were in that close proximity, I felt something in my head, a presence that didn't belong. I shook my head and kicked Loki away, causing the presence to disappear and Loki to slide along the platform on one knee.

"So, you can read my mind, huh? That's not exactly fair." I commented, running forward to strike again.

Loki swiped downwards towards my head, aiming to cut me in half. However, I managed to deflect the shot, move in close and plant my elbow into his chest for leverage so I could throw him over my shoulder. Unfortunately, Loki twisted himself in mid-air, managing to land on one knee on the floor without breaking a metaphorical sweat. He lifted his head to look at me, with a seemingly sadistic grin on his face.

"Shit…" I stuttered, just as Loki charged towards me at lightning speed, thrusting the sword at my chest. In the nick of time, I brought the blunt edge of the Snake Sword to meet with the thrust. However, I could not have ever considered the next turn of events - Loki's sword hit mine with such force that the bottom segment of the blade split into two, destroying the intricate magnetic system within it, and rendering it useless. The rest of the sword fell to the ground with a loud clunk. Loki, at first seemingly surprised, began laughing. Yevon quickly followed. The others looked on in stunned silence.

"Looks like you've lost your best weapon, Alex!" Yevon taunted, still laughing manically. Angrily, I clicked the button to change Persephone into the scythe and slung it over my shoulder.

"It's not over yet. Bring it on, Loki." I growled, planting my feet into the ground.

As Loki approached again, I ducked down, pushing down onto the Scythe and bringing the blade crashing into Loki's shoulder. It made a sound akin to scraping metal against metal, and left a deep scratch on the surface of the shoulder.

"Heh, not even your hide can withstand the strength of Damascus." I said, keeping ducked down, pointing the end of the scythe at Loki. He put a hand to the scratch, looking at it. He seemingly nodded in approval, running a hand across the graze the blade had made on him. In the blink of an eye, just before I could react, Loki grabbed hold of the blade of the scythe and tensed for a moment.

"Wh… what?!" I stuttered, taken aback. In one swift movement, Loki tugged at the blade and stood upright, taking the blade cleanly away from the weapon, before tossing it into the darkness below, to my utter astonishment.

I stared at him, almost open-mouthed.

"He's unstoppable! Get out of there!" Pippa cried out. There was surprised murmuring between the others, but I ignored it all and pressed the button on Persephone to extend the other side of the pole, turning it into the Battle Staff.

"This isn't over until I'm not breathing." I replied, dashing forward. I struck him several times before he had a chance to react, but it didn't affect him at all. Loki shrugged off everything I threw at him, standing there, almost blank, without a single reaction. My temper reached boiling point as I swung it with all the power I could muster, aiming at his chest. Unfortunately, he made his move right then, grabbing the staff and pushing down on my arm, almost tearing my bicep as I let go of it, having no other choice.

And the finality came. Loki, not even trying, bent the last weapon of Persephone, snapping it in two, destroying it entirely.

"No…" I said, staring in horror, defeated. Everyone stared, astonished, their murmuring between them getting louder. Yevon laughed maniacally, standing next to Loki.

"That's it! You showed him just how serious we are, Loki. Now, finish the job. _Kill all of them_." He demanded, gloating over them. The gang tensed up, ready to die fighting… But Loki didn't move. He stood still, looking down at me. "_Loki_...?" I breathed through my mouth, barely murmuring this as I pushed myself back with my legs, trying to keep a healthy distance from him. He turned his head away, almost in shame. I realised now that the fight was over… But how come it ended in such a manner?

"I saw your letter; I read what you wanted me to see. You said you'd kill me. So, why won't you take your chance now, while I'm defenceless?" I said to him, trying to get to my feet. Loki didn't react.

"Power and Corruption… At war within all of us, in our hearts, but this wasn't a battle of good and evil, and you knew it. This isn't the true nature of battle, this was a mistake." I continued, feeling the little parts of this nonsensical puzzle facing Loki had formed begin to click into place.

"I understand it now. It's not the Power people are given, it's the _light_, the good in a person's soul that gives the power. But the Power can corrupt the Good. But also the good can corrupt the power. …You aren't going to kill me; you won't, because you've got the wrong man..." I finished, taking a step closer to him.

Loki took a deep breath, and knelt down. Soon after, the metallic skin began to flow down his body, leaving in its wake a middle aged man, wearing dusty clothes that had once looked regal and official. He had shoulder length brown hair, blue eyes and quite dignified facial features. He seemed like he'd been in his fair share of battles and had come off wearier for it.

"You were never my intended target, I know this now. I'm just glad it only took taking your weapon for me to see this, instead of your life." He replied, his voice quite crisp and light; it was as if he was almost literally from the heavens.

"You are no Aeon. I had the feeling something wasn't right since we met…" I replied.

"Correct, I was a mere puppet, though willing that may have been. I only came here to find the true evil plaguing these worlds."

"Gabriel." I heard Sam and Pippa speak behind me.

"You double-crossing son-of-a--!" Shuyin-Yevon shouted, running towards Loki. With one quick movement, Loki grabbed him and threw him to the side like he was nothing.

"Shut up, you scum! I'll deal with you later!" he replied to him. He was definitely not quite hinged correctly, I could tell. All I could manage to say to him was a feeble sounding 'whoa' that had nothing at all to give to the conversation. Loki turned his back to me, stepping forward nearer the edge of the platform.

"I can see you have many things you want to discover; about yourself, about your life. Answers only come with more questions. Are you prepared to do the right thing?" Loki continued.

"Does it look like I have a choice?" I replied.

"You always have choice! I asked if you were prepared!" he snapped, still keeping his back to me. I was taken aback, but my answer came sure and firm.

"Yes. I am." I replied, nodding. Loki nodded too, as if he decided something. He turned around again, walking directly in front of me.

"Good luck Alexis." He said softly, before tilting my head up to him and…

Kissing…

Me…

'What the _fuck_?!' I thought, eyes opening widely. Within moments, before the shock wore off and tried to push him off, Loki had moved away.

"Don't get yourself killed, Alex. I need you as much as you'll need me." He said, walking to Yevon.

"… I… I won't… Loki, who _are_ you?" I asked, dazed and confused. As far as I could tell the others felt pretty much the same as I.

"Nobody. Not a friend, not an enemy." The man replied, picking up Shuyin-Yevon once again. He quickly recovered, his eyes burning in anger, kicking and punching ineffectively at Loki.

"You bastard, Loki!" he screamed.

"You're the bastard, Yevon. Where is my _brother_?" Loki replied, lifting him over the edge of the platform.

"You wouldn't…"

"Brother...?" Leon muttered to himself, raising an eyebrow, though not openly saying what was on his mind.

"You know I would. Try me." He replied, his face twisting into a sinister grin.

"I… I don't know! I swear it! He just _disappeared_!" he said, getting something from his back, though Loki hadn't noticed.

"Loki, look out!" I yelled at him. He turned his head to look at me, to get his cheek slashed by a little dagger that was hidden in Yevon's palm. Loki stumbled back, putting Yevon down onto the platform as he did.

"You should never mess with a God!" he said, laughing madly. Loki went to his knees, holding his cheek. There was blood there, all right, but it seemed… abnormal. Loki grinned sadistically, looking back to Yevon angrily. Suddenly and explosively, Loki charged into Yevon, grabbing him around his waist and jumping forwards.

With that one movement, accompanied by Shuyin-Yevon's screams, he and Loki plunged off the edge of the Fayth platform in an angry clinch. I ran to the edge, watching them fall into the darkness below, seemingly endless.

"Loki…" I said to myself.

"What the hell happened there?" Sam exclaimed, as confused as the rest of us.

"I don't know, but that Loki guy freaked me out…" Pippa said, rubbing the back of her head. "The way he kissed Alex… _Creepy_…"

I looked down over to the gathered splinters of metal and took a deep sigh. This was an insurmountable problem…


	15. Part 2:: Chapter 8: Goddess Breaks

I knelt over the remains of my weapon, the weapon that has never let me down since I created it, and now, it's smashed. Persephone is broken into a thousand fragments, with no way to repair it.

"Shit…" I said to myself.  
"Was that the only one?" Leon asked, standing above me at the back of my shoulder. I nodded to him.  
"Prototype…" I replied, softly.

My thoughts were scattered now. I was practically defenceless, and supposed to save everyone from a lunatic… I was doomed to go on a hopeless quest…

I ran off, jumping off into the seating section of the ruined stadium and finding the exit, trying to get my head together.  
"Alex!" Sam shouted after me, about to follow before Pippa put a hand in front of her, blocking her.  
"Leave him. He needs to think through this…" she spoke.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**Inside the base of the Watchers… **

"What the hell was that?!" North shouted, staring at the screen.  
"Alexis lost Persephone… This ain't good." Ariel spoke softly, which Raijik laughed.  
"Please. Alexis weapon doesn't lead him. He won't be defenceless forever. He's got a destiny that far outreaches that primitive weapon, believe me." He said. The others looked to him.  
"Are you sure about that?" Shiva replied. Raijik nodded proudly. North laughed wryly.  
"And you say you've changed, man…" he said bitterly, looking at the other with a sideward glance. Raijik glared at him.  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"We both know one another's past. Never forget that."  
A mysterious stare was given between them, before they both walked off, leaving Shiva and Ariel confused.

"What was that about?" Shiva asked.  
"No idea… Ever regret being the last two to come into this outfit?" Ariel replied, tossing her white hair to one side.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I managed to find a secluded area of the Zanarkand illusion, curled up with my knees in my chest and hands massaging my head, trying to step through everything that's happened since I'd arrived on Spira, and each movement of the battle with Loki to see how I was so easily defeated. I fought with my emotions, trying to keep a clear head and stop myself from breaking down into tears. It wasn't that I had lost my weapon, a priceless piece of genius design that was troubling me so much. It was what little effort it took to destroy it after all it had survived, and just how out of my depth as the champion of these people – whom I know so much _of_, yet so little _about_ – I am…

As I played the events back in my head, things that I hadn't thought about before started to stick out as not making sense. Take Leon for instance: _Why would he be running an errand for the Organisation? Something didn't seem right there at all, not after what the 13__th__ Order had put them through…_

I massaged my temples again. Chunks of the conundrum were still missing. Leon had to know some of it, at least. The Organisation would have made sure of that…

"Damn it, why does my life have to be so damn hardcore…?" I spoke, getting to my feet. I turned to see Leon standing there silently, causing me to yell out and step back.  
"Hey! Watch where you're standing, damn it!" I shouted at him, regaining my composure. Leon looked at me, before looking down and turning away.  
"You have some questions, I know. I said before that we didn't have time. Well, now we have, since we're stuck here. Temporarily at least... It's about time we talked, huh?" he replied, sitting on the floor, looking up at the sky.

"Yes, Leon… Give me some straight answers. Why are you being a gopher for the Organisation? What do you owe to the 13th Order?" I began, sitting near him.

The ex-SEED sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Things have changed... They have changed. I can't explain it myself, you should wait until they arrive," he spoke passively, though he looked up with the smallest of gleams in his eye as he continued.  
"But frankly, I still wouldn't have come here if it wasn't for the fact that they got all of us over a barrel on this one. With Sora dividing his attention a lot lately acting as a peacekeeper of several worlds himself and overseeing restoration projects on other worlds, and the fact that Riku and the King are both... indisposed," – This caught my attention quite a bit, as it caused me to wonder that if part of whatever Mickey was up to included meeting me at the gates, just what was he up to? – "They knew this was something they could entrust to a select few. And sadly, I drew the short straw."

"What exactly did they tell you to get you to come? It must have been a good sales pitch..." I asked, a small chuckle in my voice.  
"For months, we'd been hearing more and more about sightings of the Dark Walker. Most of them sounded like folk tales, a demon with no eyes and 6 feet who killed with razor sharp fangs. A shadow that kills in the darkness… A ruthless monster the size of 'Hallow Bastion' itself… Nobody took any notice, really. Most people blamed the Heartless – the chaos that caused for Sora was quite a nuisance, even he admitted as much. But the more and more rumours, and the more we saw the devastation being blamed on this legend, we started to think, maybe, just maybe, something else lurked in the darkness." Leon replied. His words made me quite uncomfortable, shuffling where I was a little.

"What's that got to do with the Org.?" I asked, looking down at the floor as I started wringing my hands.  
"They came to us for help. They themselves had come up against him and the results were not good, it seemed. They didn't tell me what happened, but they looked worried, put it that way. They did, however, clear up the mess about what he was. Though, you learned that first hand..."  
"He's just a man, nothing more. A bitter, twisted man, yes, but he's still human." I replied.  
"Yes, that's what the Organisation had told us as well. They knew almost nothing further then that, despite researching him after their defeat. They did, however, discover that there was another man destined to travel along his path, to set things right once more. They knew when he, that is, you, was apparently destined to arrive here exactly as you did. I was supposed to be there to greet you, but I was captured by the same Ronso hunters you were pretty much as soon as I arrived."  
"... I see. That explains that, then."  
"Well, not exactly, there was something else..." Leon replied with a sigh, tilting his head.

I looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.  
"...They asked you to do something in particular, didn't they?" I asked.  
"Yeah... I was to get you to meet them. Sometime today, in fact... Although how that's going to happen now, I have no idea."  
"The Organisation wants to meet me? That doesn't sound good…"  
"Well, as I said, things changed. They're not what they once were, not any more. And I'm not entirely sure if that's good or bad, but don't worry, I'm not leaving you alone with them, okay?"

I nodded in response, my mind moving to another subject.

_The second question..._

"Thanks, Leon… Another thing I want to bounce off you, if I may. If the Dark Walker is supposed to be so strong, so ruthless and destructive, why did he attempt to blind-side me and assassinating me in my nightmare? Could his legends be exaggerated or even lies and propo--?" I asked. This question seemed to agitate Leon a little, who stood immediately to his feet and turn to me, emotion burning in his eyes, but remaining off his facial features as he interrupted me.

"It's no lie. I told you before; I've seen the damage that man has done. And he _did_defeat the Organisation single-handedly, you should know that's no easy task; it wasn't for Sora. Monster or not, that man has no conscience, and he _is_ a cold-blooded killer, no matter what he truly is." He replied, making me step back a little in surprise. Leon and I shared an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before he shook his head and turned back again.  
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to snap… But this man needs to be stopped, and everyone seems to think you're the one to do it…" he continued, the fire in his eyes burning out.  
"Its okay, Leon, I didn't know it was that bad… I won't take him so lightly… But the question remains, why do something so cowardly when there's something so powerful within him?"  
"I think you touched upon it just now, Alexis. Maybe he took _you_ too lightly and thought of you as easy prey…"  
"… Mm, I suppose that makes sense… But, damn it, he was right..." I sighed, laying back, staring up at the sky.  
"...You believe that?" Leon asked, glancing towards me.  
"Yes. If not for those... outsiders who saved me, I had no chance..." I groaned, clearing my head for a second.

The stars were so lifeless in this illusion. It was almost depressing, so I closed my eyes and tried to picture the skies at home. So beautiful, vibrant and colourful as the sun was setting… Paradise, for me at least, after suffering this. I had no idea when I'd get home, or even if I would…

"Why me, Leon? What did I do to earn this? Why am I special?" I asked him, a tear welling up in one eye, homesickness building in my gut.  
"Maybe it's just your destiny, Alexis. We're not meant to understand what we're here to do in this world. We're just meant to do it." He replied, as I moved my hand to wipe the tear away, causing me to sniffle quietly. Solemnly, I nodded, sitting up again.  
"Maybe. But I don't believe in a pre-determined destiny. I'll always write my own path." I replied, standing up and heading towards the others to rejoin them. Leon stayed behind a few moments longer, before following quietly.  
"…"  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**Back with the Watchers… **

"Poor kid... Missing his home already... If only he knew." Shiva said, almost in a whisper, arms crossed along her chest, a solemn expression drawn on her face.  
"I just want to go down there and give him a great big hug." Ariel grinned, giving an example of such a hug to Shiva, squeezing her around her stomach tightly, which made the winged watcher laugh quietly, pushing her away playfully. Both Raijik and North rolled their eyes at the women.  
"You both know we're only observing until the time is right, so don't be so stupid." North said, walking off deeper into the Watcher's Chambers.  
"For once, I agree with him." Raijik smiled, watching him walk away. Ariel pouted.  
"Come on, boss. We do know that. It was just a joke. Besides, I don't think he'd appreciate a hug from me, he'd probably be scared." She giggled. Raijik half-smiled; he realised that the girl was just trying to lighten the mood after the dark turns that had began to surround me.  
"Alright, let's get some rest. Set the ball to record the data while we're gone." Raijik said, messing up the hair of, ironically considering her white locks, the youngest of the Watchers. She smiled softly.  
"Thanks boss." Both she and Shiva said together, before they walked out the room, giggling together. Raijik watched them leave, shaking his head, before taking one last look at the viewing screen.  
"Godspeed, Mr. Edmenton." He muttered, before leaving himself.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

As we rejoined the others I could see that all eyes were on me as the group had settled, aiming to rest in the strange, ancient lands until someone could think of a solution. Self-consciously brushing some of my hair behind my ear, I cleared my throat and looked to them all, returning their gazes.

"I know you're probably concerned for me, but trust me, this is only going to get harder. I'll be fine." I said calmly, though inside I was screaming.  
"While I'm no stranger to being in strange lands, I'm approaching something of such a scale that I'm entirely out of my depth. I need you to help me, keep my head above water and in the game, so to speak. And to do that, I need to figure out what's the reality and what's the fiction of what I think I know about the worlds. For instance, you, Tidus..." I started, looking to the youthful warrior.  
"Yeah...?" he responded, shifting a little where he sat.  
"I'm very confused about something... In Kingdom Hearts, you were just a kid on Destiny Islands, yet here you are... I assume there's some truth in between or was the company performing some extra embellishment on the truth...?"  
Tidus smiled. "The truth is even simpler. Naminé. When she rewrote history, she changed more then we knew. Apparently, there was only three kids on Destiny Island. To make things more believable, she not only implanted herself, but others she had heard about through the Organisation, trying to make her deceit more believable."

I smiled a little.  
"So, the little witch was a little devious... I kinda always knew that. Well, that's that out of the way. But, there is one other thing. What happened to the Gullwings? To Payne and the Sphere hunting? I mean, no offence, but it looks like it's all just finished, like the world stopped for you guys..." I asked, a little passion in my voice. Though I knew the reality of it all now, I was a fan of the games when things were... normal. And for that to have ended... I think it would have hurt me a little.  
Yuna smiled warmly, as if to reassure me.

"We're still Sphere Hunters, Alexis. But the ship crashed a little while ago, we left Paine to oversee the repairs." She replied.  
"It's all that idiot Brother's fault. He was trying to show off and clipped one of the wings straight into a rock face. I could have screamed at him for years if I wasn't already praying for my life!" Rikku chimed in, her face screwed up in distaste.  
"I see," I chuckled a little to myself, smiling again. "In that case, I guess that's that, then..."  
"I wouldn't say that." A voice, a heavy English accent, spoke up suddenly from behind me.

Turning on my heel, heart thudding in surprise, I spun around to see a Nobody appearing from the Darkness. However, who I expected to see, and who I actually saw, were two entirely different people. I _didn't recognise _the Organisation member in front of me. When Leon said the Organisation had changed, surely he hadn't meant _this much_... Had he?


End file.
